FORMER GALWAY MIDFIELDER Peter Cooke has not ruled out an inter-county comeback for 2023 when his club commitments with AIB Connacht football finalists Moycullen conclude.
Cooke played in all of Galway’s National League and Championship games in 2021, lining out at Croke Park for that season’s Connacht final, but sat out the 2022 inter-county campaign due to work commitments.
Cooke works for a cyber security company which has an office in Conneticut and while he is currently based in Ireland, he has spent large chunks of time in the US since 2019.
In his absence, Galway secured promotion to Division 1 of the National League last season, won the Connacht title and ultimately pushed Kerry hard in July’s All-Ireland final.
Cooke, who hit the winning goal for Moycullen in the county final, will compete in Sunday’s AIB Connacht club decider against Tourlestrane and is reportedly on Galway manager Padraic Joyce’s radar for 2023 inclusion.
Asked if he has a decision to make regarding Galway, Cooke said: “Yeah, the way the county season goes it’s probably kicking back up in the background now again, lads training and different bits and pieces.
“You really need to be hitting the ground running in December to give yourself the best chance. Those are important months to get miles in the bank and to work on structures so that will definitely be a conversation that will be had before the Christmas I’m sure.”
With Kieran Molloy sidelined for a significant period due to cruciate trouble and All-Star nominee Liam Silke likely to be unavailable for a period due to work in New Zealand, a Cooke return would be a timely boost to Galway.
Cooke said the immediate future for Galway is bright, regardless of the personnel changes that may occur.
“I thought they showed up really in the All-Ireland final, they definitely had a great chance to win it,” said Cooke. “They’ll always be there or thereabouts, and you need luck on your side. But I think they’ve been clear publicly about their intentions, everyone involved with Galway wants to bring home Sam Maguire and that’s a serious word of intent. It’s great to see. Please God whether I’m involved or not that’ll be the aim.”
Cooke, who has fully recovered from the virus which sidelined him for the AIB Connacht club quarter-final defeat of Westport, suggested that there is a possibility of being called back over to the US for work.
“I moved over to the States in 2019, I stayed there for about a year and a half, two years,” he said. “I had a visa coming out of college so I was kind of working remotely and listen, I was enjoying myself for sure too. Then I came back at the start of 2021 and I was in with Galway that year. At the start of this year I was over there again and I have been over and back balancing commitments ever since.
“I’ve been at home now for two or three months so I’ve had a good routine going, I’ve been able to work remotely for that period of time. Then whenever it finishes up, I suppose it’ll be…eh, look at going over there again or seeing what kind of the next steps are.”
Cooke, who debuted for Galway back in 2016, admitted it was a wrench leaving club and county football behind and looking on as his former team-mates performed without him.
“There is part of it that is bittersweet, you would love to be involved,” he said. “At the same time what makes those days special is the time that you invest in it. If you were to just turn up on the day of a final and play, or just fly home for it, well you haven’t put in the six or nine months of graft, experienced the ups and downs and highs and lows. I think that is what really gives all that context.”
Moycullen have claimed two of the last three Galway titles on offer and will seek to embellish the club’s golden period by clinching the Connacht crown at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.
“Tourlestrane are on a serious run in the Sligo championship,” noted Cooke of the seven-in-a-row Sligo winners. “They’re probably at a level where Corofin where when they were coming out of Galway in terms of winning so many county titles. That definitely have that consistency and it’s something we’ll have to be wary of. They play a nice style of football as well, they get everyone back behind the ball but they do it with intent and they’re quite accurate up front. I think we’ll really have to be on our game.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
