By John Harrington

One of the main reasons why Galway transformed themselves from a nearly-team into All-Ireland champions this year was because they became fitter, faster, and stronger.

Conor Cooney probably exemplified this improvement more than any other player in the Galway panel.

The St. Thomas’ man always had the skill, but this year he cut a more impressive physical specimen than ever before in a Galway jersey.

Cooney himself believes a lot of the credit for this must go to Galway’s Strength and Conditioning coach, Lukasz Kirszenstein, who had previously worked with the 2016 Tipperary All-Ireland winning team.

“Lukasz has been fantastic,” said Cooney yesterday when he was announced as the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for July.

“His attention to detail is incredible. I suppose there's no messing with him either. If you want to do something you do it and there's no messing around.

“You're trying to find your ideal weight all the time and I suppose you've all the tests and measurements done. Maybe cutting a small bit of weight made me less prone to injury and there was less impact and things like that.

“I suppose I would have always been up and down at different stages, but this year I've been at a steady weight and I've kind of kept it there.

“I suppose I put on more lean mass and muscle and probably lost a bit of fat that needed to be lost. Yeah, that's definitely a factor.”

Cooney believes he can continue to improve his strength and conditioning under the watchful eye of Kirszenstein over the course of the next couple of years, which should be a scary thought for opposition full-backs.

“I suppose I'm still not at a place where I want to be at,” said Cooney. "I want to take it a step further and get to another level as well.

“My own stamina was always a thing I would never have been known for. Keeping the running up for long stages. I'd be more coming in bursts. That's something I'd be hoping to work on.

“You still always feel there's more in the tank and there's another level you can get to. Like that, there are younger guys who are coming into the panel who can get to a certain level and when they're at a certain level it kind of pushes you that bit more as well.

“You want to be at the top of your game because you know these guys coming through are going to be putting the work in. They're going to be putting the hours in in the gym and they're going to be physically ready.”

Cooney was a key man for Galway in their All-Ireland Final win over Waterford, scoring three classy points from play.

It meant a lot to him to produce a big display in an All-Ireland Final, because his three previous experiences of the day were disappointing.

In the 2012 drawn All-Ireland Final against Kilkenny he was brought on as a sub after 52 minutes only to be hauled off again just eight minutes later.

He came on as a sub in the replay and also in the 2015 All-Ireland Final defeat to Kilkenny, but failed to score in either game, so to play a big part in this year’s win was a sweet feeling.

“Yeah, from a personal perspective it was fantastic,” said Cooney. “You're just delighted that there's a bit of redemption there because you've had bad days and you can come back and say you've reached the pinnacle, you've had your good day.

“And I suppose you want more of it then when it does come around.

“Like you said, you'd be looking to build on next year and see what level you can get to and come back and have a crack at another one.”

Cooney believes winning Galway’s first All-Ireland title since 1988 can lay the platform for further success in the coming years.

“I was chatting to a couple of lads there afterwards and we were saying that if this one slipped us by you'd be wondering is it ever going to happen,” said Cooney.

“Yeah, it's a weight off and I suppose it gives you more freedom to go out and there isn't that expectation there now on us.

“We're kind of in bonus territory now. If we go out and up our level and up our games maybe there's a chance we could get one or two more.

“But it's not an easy road, so we'll really have to up it again next year if we're to look at winning another one.”