‘I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I’ve worked hard’
Wandering Dubliner John Cooney has been taken into the hearts of Ulster fans at the Kingspan Stadium after filling Ruan Pienaar’s boots seamlessly since joining from Connacht last summer
JOHN COONEY is a man who refuses to be pigeonholed. He is at once a top-class goal-kicker who only took pot-shots for fun until 18 months ago, a Gonzagan in the Ulster dressing-room by way of Galway and a man who was recalled to the Ireland squad this week on the back of his form at scrum-half only to find himself running at No 10 in training.
Concerns about life after Ruan Pienaar were rife in Belfast a year ago. Who could have thought that the solution was sitting right under their noses in a then-uncapped 27-year-old who was second choice at Connacht.
Cooney has always believed in his own ability. His issue has come in convincing others to trust in that belief.
At Leinster, he played in the 2012 Heineken Cup final under Joe Schmidt but two seasons later he was still looking at Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss ahead of him and knew Luke McGrath was the coming man so he headed west.
His mother hails from Sligo and his family have a house in Mayo, so the connection was already established but while he played an influential role in the run to the 2016 Guinness PRO12 win with the western province he couldn’t get ahead of Kieran Marmion.
When Pienaar was told his contract would not be renewed, Cooney saw an opportunity and amid the gnashing of teeth he put his best foot forward.
It is realistic to wonder whether many Ulster fans knew Cooney’s name when his signing was confirmed last January, but now his name rings out in the Kingspan Stadium where his performances have gone down a storm.
Last Friday, he wowed the Belfast crowd with a 27-point haul in Ulster’s 52-24 win over Harlequins in the Champions Cup and received a standing ovation when left the field, job done.
The person least surprised by his capacity to thrive once handed the responsibility is the man himself.
SETBACKS
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. In my head, I’ve always deserved it,” he reflects.
“For me, it’s about getting where I want to be. I’ve had to take a lot of setbacks and I’ve had to work on my game.
“It’s like anything. It’s self-belief, like my family have always believed in me.
“I’ve always wanted to get to where I want to be. You have to do what you have to do to get there.
“I knew I had to move and it was the right decision.
“I wasn’t happy to be average or be third or fourth choice. I knew I had to go the round-about to get there. I knew what my end-goal was and how to get there.”
Cooney isn’t alone as a southern player who has headed across the frictionless border in recent times, but his was the most high-profile move because of who he was replacing.
Yet, he never saw it as a burden or a challenge – just another dressing-room to get used to and another jersey to make his own.
“He’s been the superstar there for the last couple of years,” he says of Pienaar.
“I can only do what I can do really. I’m glad I’m trying to fill big boots, that gave me a lot to work for in the summer because I knew I had a lot to do.
“For me, there was a position there and I had to fill it – I didn’t really care who it was before.
“It was a huge opportunity, that’s the reason I went. I thought I had the ability to do well in the position.
“For me, it didn’t matter who was there before. It was just about trying to make the position my own.
“I’ve been working hard for a long time and I feel like it’s what I have deserved basically and I hadn’t gotten it yet.
“I’m happy for all of that frustration, because it gives me that desire in the morning to go in and work hard every day.
“I don’t think I’ve changed it.” Switching between provinces is becoming an increasingly popular trend among Ireland hopefuls and his impending move did him no harm in getting the nod for the summer tour of Japan where he made his debut in June.
Some would see moving from Leinster to Connacht and then to Ulster as a culture shock, but Cooney doesn’t.
“It all depends on the type of person,” he said.
“If I’m playing for Ulster, I’m a competitive player I will work hard. I will give 100 per cent.
“I don’t think it matters that I’m not from Ulster whereas I care just as much about playing for Ulster as I did for Leinster.
“I had to go to Connacht. I bought into Connacht. I have a lot of family from there. For me, that was easy.
“But, coming up to Ulster, I knew I had an opportunity and I had to put my head down, see what would happen.
“It’s about the people, the community.
“I loved that about Connacht, but it was the right decision for me to leave and I haven’t looked back since. It doesn’t mean I didn’t give everything, but now I’m loving Ulster, loving everything about it.”
When Jordi Murphy called him days before he signed for the northern province, he had no hesitation in recommending his old team-mate come and join him.
“I’m taking the plaudits for getting him up here. I’m taking a cut of his salary,” he says with a chuckle.
“He had some beliefs that were wrong, I can’t tell ye. I just told him it was a good place, it’s only two hours up the way and I had the same with Galway – you just listen to podcasts, audiobooks and it’s not that hard to drive two hours, for me it’s quite easy now. He’ll be close to home.”
PROWESS
Arriving an Ireland international helped, but what has really won over the Ulster fans has been his goal-kicking prowess.
Yet, he only began picking up the tee seriously when Connacht ran low on kickers last season. Having been a decent soccer player for Beechwood in Ranelagh growing up, he always reckoned he could do it but never got the chance. Now he’s proving it.
“I just did it socially for enjoyment. I used to go kicking with my cousins,” he says.
“I always knew I could do it because I was a footballer until I was 18. That was my main sport until 18, even rugby-wise. I knew I had the ability. But, coming through Leinster, there was Isa Nacewa, Ferg McFadden, Rob Kearney, all these players who could kick out of the position.
“I always used to say to Richie (Murphy), ‘Can I come out kicking with you?’
“For a developing player, he would be telling me to work on my passing and kicking.
“It was something my brother always told me to do. I would go kicking socially. It was something I knew I could do. But, I would kick off a cone, not even a tee.
“I remember a year-and-a-half or two years ago, Connacht had a few injuries. I would be the type of lad I would put the ball down on the corner and kick it over and go, ‘Ha, I can do that.’ But, I’d never done it.
“That week, I put my money where my mouth was. I went goal-kicking and practised with the kickers.
“It just went well. After that, they told me I should just keep doing it.
“I had kicked twice for UCD, just in the League. I was kicking off a cone, getting the hard ones, missing the easy ones.
“I used to struggle because I would get too annoyed when I missed. It would affect my game.
“Then, I completely changed my mentality. When I started goal-kicking, I went 17-from-17 in professional rugby without missing.
“It just kept going well. I kept getting them. But, I actually found it more relaxing than stressing. I don’t know why.”
He works with Murphy when he’s in Ireland camps or when the skills and kicking guru visits Belfast, but mostly he’s happy coaching himself and gleaning tips from books about golf.
“I always knew I had the natural strike of a ball,” he says.
“You see a lot of goal-kickers from a young age playing 10 and they say, ‘They’re a good kicker’ because they’re a No 10 or they might practise a lot whereas I was the type who wouldn’t have to practise a lot but I could kick well so I always thought I wanted my
shot. “It was just about working it out in my head, so much goal-kicking is mental as well.
“I’ve read books on golf and stuff like that because it’s the exact same process, sitting over a ball, not over-thinking what you do.
“So for me I try not to think about anything when I’m kicking, if I get a good breath, that’s it, whereas some people say that’s bad, that you need your process but for me it’s just strike the ball.” Having missed out on November, a place in the Ireland squad is a definite target for the Dubliner and starring for Ulster is key to that. Today, he returns to the Sportsground and is expecting a special welcome.
“I’m still sore from the last game, Bundee (Aki) had been hitting me the whole time,” he recalls.
“I’m looking forward to it. I like that competitive aspect to it.
“I’d love to be getting picked for the Ireland team, but first and foremost I’m playing for Ulster and each week it’s about playing well for them.
“Sport’s fickle, one week you’re the main man and the next you play poorly and everyone’s giving out to you.”
CONTENTION
If he keeps going the way he has been then that is an unlikely prospect. Ulster are firmly in contention in their Champions Cup pool, while they take on Connacht, Munster and Leinster in the next 15 days before the European games return.
He is not the only player to have played for three of the provinces, but no one has completed the set.
And Cooney is not about to become the first one either. “I’m never going to Munster,” he laughs.
Ulster fans wouldn’t let him leave.