IF THERE’S a club football team of the decade to be crowned, then three sides are in the running for the prize: Corofin, Crossmaglen Rangers and Dr Crokes.
Corofin and Crossmaglen have won two titles apiece since 2011, while the Kerry champions are seeking their second crown of the decade on Sunday.
Win a third All-Ireland in five years, and second in succession, and Corofin would undoubtedly be rated as the finest club side this decade, and one of the greatest ever.
“Corofin are an extraordinary team, in fairness to them,” says Dr Crokes speed merchant Gavin White.
“They’ve won multiple All-Irelands and you could say that it’s the 2017 versus 2018 champions, and who’s the best?
“I suppose we’re just taking it from our own perspective – we’ve won an All-Ireland and want to win another one. I don’t really think anything else is coming to mind.
“We’re concentrating on ourselves and I don’t think we can do much more than that. Just bring what we can bring and concentrate on our own performance and see can we get over the line with that.”
Superclubs Crokes and Corofin last met two years ago, when the Killarney club handed out a 2-11 to 0-8 beating in the All-Ireland semi-final.
“I remember getting a big bang in the first half and having a big, white plaster wrapped around my head,” says the All-Star nominee. “A very, very tough game.
“Coming into it I suppose from my own point of view I didn’t really know what to expect. It was my first or second real season playing at senior level for Crokes and I’d been at games when Crokes lost semi-finals by the narrowest of margins so I knew it was going to be a massive challenge.
“When you get out there it’s a different scenario and doesn’t really play out the way you imagine it. But, yeah, we started that game very strongly. We controlled the tempo of the game and built from there.
“We started off getting four or five points ahead and that gave us a cushion we built on from there. The final whistle went and that was a highlight of that game.”
White, Micheal Burns, Jordan Kiely and Tony Brosnan were all used as impact subs by Pat O’Shea that year as Crokes went on to lift the Andy Merrigan Cup.
By now, all but Kiely have cemented places in the starting line-up, while 35-year-old Colm Cooper now being used off the bench.
“Back in 2017, we had the likes of Micheal Burns, Jordan Kiely, Tony Brosnan, we’d a few more that were only coming on and getting 15 or 20 minutes in a game. Now Micheal and Tony are starting and Jordan is having a massive impact from the bench as well.
“It kind of took them time to get up to the level. Getting into the Crokes team isn’t an easy feat, like any other club team around the country that are competing at this level.
“But yeah, I think the difference in 2017 was that the youth brought it up another level. They brought up the standard in training, they were fighting for positions. I’m sure they weren’t happy that they weren’t starting in that All-Ireland final in 2017 but that just made other fellas get better in training.
“Likewise this year, you’ve the likes of David Shaw, Michael Potts and a few more that are chomping at the bit. In the last game, Shaw stood up and he was starting, he stood up and put in a massive performance when we went down to 14 men.
“So look, the youth in every county or club team is going to bring up the performance in any team.”
White hailed the leadership of Cooper, who continues to be a vocal presence in the dressing room.
“When I first came into the Crokes senior team, Gooch gave me so much advice that any other fella might not have noticed. He maybe recognised things going on in a game that people might not have noticed.
“Gooch has an eye for the game that not many people do. He might be able to pick out things that you might not necessarily see or anyone else might not necessarily see and a small bit of advice might make the difference in a game or to your performance on a daily basis.
“From a performance point of view, this year I suppose he’d prefer to be starting but equally he’s delighted to be part of this Crokes team in an All-Ireland final. But from a performance point of view, he does his part. He comes on, he dictates the game whenever he can.
“After games or off the pitch before games, he’s a real leader. In team talks, he’d be very vocal in the dressing room. Trying to get fellas right for the club and get his team over the line.”
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