Westmeath manager Jack Cooney pictured at the launch of the Leinster Championships.
By Cian O'Connell
Something is stirring in Westmeath and Jack Cooney is delighted to be involved.
Having steered Westmeath to success in the Bord Na Mona O'Byrne Cup and to the Allianz Football League Division Three title, Cooney is optimistic about the future.
Cooney is trying to do his bit for the next generation also occupying a coaching role with the Under 15 footballers also.
"The hurlers are doing well, the footballers are doing well," Cooney admits. "It’s creating a lot of kids talking about the game and so on. In Westmeath you have to keep it fashionable, so it’s good to have people talking about it.
"To me as a Westmeath man, I’m very interested in the here and now, but I’m also interested in the future and trying to develop the future and put structures in place. It’s great to have these young boys and girls interested in the game."
The first Westmeath native to manage the county senior team since the early 1990s Cooney isn't placing too much emphasis on that fact.
"People say that, but’s it’s probably being a bit unkind to Luke Dempsey," Cooney replies. "I’d consider Luke Dempsey a Westmeath man, he brought a lot of success to the county. We’re indebted to Luke. We won the All-Ireland minor in 1995, the Under 21 in 1999, he was involved in the senior team as well for three years.
Westmeath manager Jack Cooney during the Allianz Football League Division Three Final.
"He’s getting back involved again now [in underage teams] which is a great sign. He’s a very successful club manager as well down in St Loman’s as well.
"I’m not quite sure, we were very lucky in Westmeath that we had a lot of very good, top inter-county managers from outside the county coming in that we’re indebted to. The likes of Páidí (O Se) and Tomás (O Fatharta), Matt Kerrigan over the years. Brendan Lowry as well.
Cooney, though, does acknowledge that people can respond to a local being in charge. "I suppose there’s facts and figures out there that the number of outside managers out there that are actually successful with counties that they’re not from, I think the percentages are low enough," Cooney states.
"I suppose the way the GAA is set up, because it’s a representative game, you’re nearly coming from within your own county to try to drive it, to do the best you can, you probably get a better response.
"But I would certainly say, the managers that have been there (Westmeath) over that number of years have done a great job. I’m just lucky that I’m just coming in, I’ve benefitted, been part of some of those management teams and got the experience. Maybe there just wasn’t someone in Westmeath with that experience. I’m just lucky that I’m there to be honest."
Cooney, who has been involved with several club teams in different counties, and had a spell as a selector with Westmeath and Donegal previously reckons it is important to work elsewhere in order to accumulate knowledge.
"I think it is," Cooney replies. "I spent two years in Donegal, got great experience there. I spent a bit of time coaching different clubs around Leinster, huge experience. You need that mixture of experience because you can’t go back for that experience, you have to get it on the way.
Westmeath defeated Laois in the Allianz Football League Division Three Final at Croke Park.
"There’s no point in managing Westmeath and saying, I wish I had more experience managing this, that or the other. To be quite honest, I just love being involved with team, working with teams, coaching teams. So I don’t think that’s going to change in the near-distance future."
Westmeath face Laois in what promises to be an interesting Leinster Championship Quarter-Final on Sunday. In recent years the midlanders have enjoyed a decent record in the province reaching two finals in 2015 and 2016.
"Yeah, they’ve had good experiences and beaten really good teams on the way to those Leinster finals over the last number of years," Cooney says. "They beat Meath for the first time in the history of Westmeath a number of years ago, and then Kildare. Two top teams.
"So that experience will hopefully stand to us in the summer of 2019, and the players are working hard. We got a good bounce out of the League, promotion, and it’s good to bring that confidence into training, because we’re going to need it all going into the Laois match."
Having defeated Laois twice already in 2019 Cooney stresses that the Croke Park success last month won't count for much this weekend. "I think both teams wanted to go out to win it," Cooney reflects. "The two games we’ve played against Laois already in the League will stand to nothing on May 26.
"There’s so much time and so much work and preparation has gone into the Championship game that I think there’ll be two completely different tuned teams arriving.
"There is no doubt that Laois don't want to be beaten by Westmeath three times in the one year. We’re very, very aware of that. We’ll be trying to do our best to try to continue our winning run against them."
