O’Donoghue and Cooper need to make infrequent double-act do damage
WHILE Kerry might be sickened by the belief that they have to lose for a game to be labelled a classic, they took their own cold comfort from that 2013 epic semi-final defeat to Dublin.
So cold, in fact, that it was only at the start of last year when they warmed to it as they awaited the renewal of a partnership they had only got a fleeting glimpse of.
The joy that greeted the imminent return of Colm Cooper from his cruciate hell was not just out of affection but because of the possibilities it offered.
They had in his absence become the most expected of champions, but on his return they expected to become the kind they glory in, full of verve and swagger.
They had also discovered in his time away that they had another gifted strike forward in James O’Donoghue who had the mental strength to lead the line, to accompany the talent that first came to light in 2011.
The player of the year teaming up with the player of his generation, the sense of fantasy was rooted in the reality of that 2013 semi-final.
O’Donoghue nailed 2-3, but still could not get a paw on Cooper’s claim to be Kerry’s best player in a game so ridiculously wonderful that they still lost by seven.
Cooper’s days as an inside forward were behind him — the previous August he made as good a fist as any while paying rent inside Neill McGee’s pocket in a last eight defeat to Donegal in Croke Park.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice recognised more could be bled by playing him in a quarter-back role, and in the first 20 minutes of that semifinal against Dublin he was flawless.
That seventh minute delayed defence splitting pass complete with stalled solo to buy time, which ended with O’Donoghue taking a pass from Donncadh Walsh to fire past Stephen Cluxton was the clip playing on a loop inside giddy Kerry heads at the beginning of last year.
Thing is, they have hardly caught the double-act in the flesh since.
They have started as a duo in just three of the nine Championship games — none at all this summer — while last year’s semi-final against Tyrone was the only time they spent the full game in each other’s company.
There have been a whole bunch of reasons for that, injuries, form, tactical formations and Dublin the most glaringly obvious.
O’Donoghue’s well chronicled shoulder issues have not just robbed him of the game-time which has inevitably left him creaking of rust on his return, but it also invites fears as to how long a fragile frame can keep writing cheques for the rare talent it houses.
It has taken its toll shortterm, too. In 2014, 2-20 of his 4-24 came from open play in five games, while he has managed just 0-10 from play in his last eight Championship games.
Scoring isn’t everything but it is one hell of a part of O’Donoghue’s game.
Sustainability is not the issue for Cooper, but as the end line looms into sight, finding a way to come up with a departure that will do justice to a stunning career is.
It is not so much that the injuries have dulled his edge — Kerry have to be taken on their word that he has made a full recovery from the shoulder AC joint injury he suffered in the Munster final — but now his undoubted quality has to be measured against his vulnerability.
After a career where he was the hunted one, he does not have the instinct or the legs to morph into the role of the hunter as Philly McMahon cruelly exposed in last year’s All-Ireland final.
But what Cooper still offers Kerry — the vision and the unrivalled ability to deliver on it — is beyond the range of anyone else.
In last year’s semi-final against Tyrone, in what was deemed a subdued performance in which he had just 14 possessions, seven points came off him. He made just five passing plays in the first half, but four of them set up shots at goal. With Cooper there is always end product.
The problem though is that he is in danger of becoming a square peg in a tactical round hole. If Kerry are to beat Dublin, the consensus — particularly in light of their League final implosion — is that they will have to go manon-man hard at the top end of the field.
It was something he was never built for and he certainly has neither the legs nor lungs for it now.
The other problem about that clip from 2013 is that it might as well be in black and white it seems so long ago.
Dublin were essentially a front-foot team then, but these days there are no half acres that they will cough up because of a delayed flick of Cooper’s boot for O’Donoghue to run onto.
But then, the harder defences get to unlock is all the more reason to carry your best safe-crackers.
Perhaps, for one final heist.