Essendon midfielder Adam Cooney will play his 250th and final AFL match against the Western Bulldogs
ADAM Cooney will play his 250th and final AFL match on Sunday, looking for one last flourish against his former club, the Western Bulldogs.
Essendon
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ADAM Cooney admits he is one of footy’s rare breeds.
In the ultra-professional, mostly-serious AFL world, the retiring Essendon midfielder was always happy to be his laid-back and jovial self, even in the often tense final minutes in the lead-up to a game.
So much so that in his Western Bulldogs days, Cooney and teammates Brian Lake and Ryan Hargrave had to be removed from the rest of their team in the change rooms because they would joke around so much.
“We were probably the main three who went about things a little differently,” Cooney told the Herald Sun.
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“We would just talk nonsense. We were probably not as focused as we should have been leading into a game, but that’s just the way we went about it.
“I think Matty Boyd made us go into a separate room that we had before a game at one stage, so we wouldn’t distract the other players, under ‘Rocket’ (Rodney Eade).
“So, we were pretty laid-back, but we used to get the job done for him (Eade) more often than not, so he would let us go about our business, which was good.”
On Sunday, the gun midfielder will play his 250th and final AFL match, looking for one last flourish against his former side, the Western Bulldogs, at Etihad Stadium.
At his prime, the blistering ball-carrier was one of the competition’s most deadly midfielders, using his breakaway speed and lethal ball-use to claim the game’s top individual honour, winning the 2008 Brownlow Medal.
For many, it was a shock victory.
Cooney was only 22 years old at the time, yet he secured 24 votes (polling in seven of the first 12 games) to upstage Brisbane champion Simon Black (23), Geelong superstar Gary Ablett and Richmond tyro Matthew Richardson (22), Sydney’s Adam Goodes (21) and a 21-year-old Lance Franklin.
Other than the Brownlow, the 30-year-old described the seven-point preliminary final loss to St Kilda in 2009 as “the hardest game of footy I’ve probably been involved in” and also the most gut-wrenching as Nick Riewoldt kicked a last-minute goal off the ground from the top of the goal square to seal victory.
“We will rue that one . but it was just a great game of footy and we were one kick away from making a grand final,” he said.
But Sunday’s farewell game will serve a dual purpose for the man taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2003 national draft.
He will get to round-out a season that has been a joy for Cooney in tough circumstances, playing every game of the season so far for the first time since 2008.
(It was his last pain-free football season, with persistent knee injuries restricting him since then.)
But Cooney is also looking forward to getting the chance to say thanks and goodbye to the Bulldogs fans, which he missed when he was abruptly traded to the Bombers at the end of 2014.
“I was a bit upset that when I left the Bulldogs because I didn’t get the chance to say much to the Bulldogs faithful,” he said.
“So it will be a good time for that, and to say goodbye to them, and the Essendon people who have supported me as well.
“But I guess it’s a good way to bring up 250 games, against the Dogs.
“There’s always that competitiveness (to win against them), and hopefully it’s a bit different to the first time that I played the old mob (and had 19 possessions) when they beat us by about 87 points.”
For all the locker room banter that has sometimes landed him in hot water over the journey, Cooney says he has enjoyed his time at Essendon helping foster the club’s next generation of young stars, in the absence of some of their banned senior players.
The All-Australian said this season, in particular, had been a far more fun and positive experience under coach John Worsfold, compared to last year’s final campaign under James Hird.
In a candid assessment of Essendon’s off-field progress over the last 12 months, Cooney said the dark cloud had lifted from Tullamarine in his 13th AFL season.
“Last year was pretty difficult, not only for myself personally but the group with ‘Hirdy’ going and the (WADA) appeal going on and everything,” he said.
“It was a pretty tough place to be around, the footy club last year
“I did two hammies as well and ended up having surgery on my ankle towards the end of the year, so it wasn’t the way I wanted to start my career at a new club, but this year has been totally different.
“It has been one of the most enjoyable two-win seasons I’ve ever had.
“The silver lining has come out is the development of the younger players this year.
“Orazio Fantasia is one who wouldn’t have got a lot of game time this year and Anthony McDoanld-Tipungwuti — they’re the future of the footy club and they have cemented their spots for next year.
“So, it’s been a pleasure for me to play with these guys and help play a part in fast-tracking their development.”
The improvement of the youngsters is in part why Cooney is hanging the boots up. Simply, their rapid growth is part of the reason he won’t be assured a game, next season.
He insists the future of the club is bright, and credited Worsfold for helping keep the players’ spirits in tact, in the face of the devastating drugs bans to the ‘Essendon 12’.
“The main thing is the spirit of the group has maintained a high level throughout the year,” he said.
“We went something like 17 weeks without a win, and the arse can fall out of the joint at some places when that happens.
“But the resilience of the group and the spirit, like I said, has held us in good stead, but ‘Woosha’ has been the main focal point of that.
“He has just been so calm and really measured in his approach and just really positive.
“I think he’s been huge. We had enough negativity going in to the season from outside, but he has really brought the group together and even the game reviews that we have had when we have been on the end of some really big losses — he has always been positive.
“You leave the meeting thinking these are the areas of the game we can improve on.”
Cooney says he has made great friends over the journey and relished the opportunity to play in big finals for the Dogs, as he helped spearhead their midfield group to three-straight preliminary finals, albeit falling agonisingly short in each one to Geelong first, and St Kilda twice.
It’s why, Cooney says, he cannot be totally satisfied by his career, despite winning the game’s top individual honour in 2008.
“It was a great year. We finished top-four and had a pretty decent crack at playing in a grand final, so to win a Brownlow in a good team, yeah, was pleasing,” he said.
“The way we played was good attacking footy as well, but it was a little bit bitter-sweet, to be honest with you, because going into that finals series (in 2008) when I hurt my knee, it was probably the last season I’ve had where I have been pain-free.
“Even since then it has limited me a fair bit in the way that you train and play, so I’m fortunate to be able to say I’ve shown people how well I could play.
“But it was a little bit bitter-sweet because I haven’t been able to play that consistent footy since then due to some injuries.
“Am I satisfied? I don’t think you can ever be satisfied unless you win a flag.
“You probably take for granted the successful times when you have that moment and in 2008-09-10 we had a good team. We were up there and were a chance to win a premiership.
“You think the next year is going to roll into the next one, but 2009 was actually the last time I played finals.
“It’s a long time to play without finals footy but I’ve still been really happy to play 250 games and meet a lot of great people across the journey.”
Cooney said the 2009 preliminary final loss would itch the most in retirement.
The Dogs led St Kilda by seven points at half time but lost by seven points as four-goal hero Riewoldt soccered the match-winner off the turf.
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“I reckon 2009 was the one (that got away), where we played the Saints and it was pretty low-scoring game and hardest game of footy I’ve been involved in,” he said.
“And the bloody free kicks after half time.
“But just some of our ball-use and kicking into their spare defender in the last quarter probably cost us, but we certainly got close and we gave it everything and I suppose that’s all you can ask for I guess.”
He plans to stay in footy, if he can, and perhaps the media. True to character, he said his articles would probably be “different”.
Originally published as Essendon midfielder Adam Cooney will play his 250th and final AFL match against the Western Bulldogs
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