Quade Cooper of Australia looks on during a Wallabies match(AFP PHOTO / Michael Bradley)
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After a four-hour hearing in front of a three-man ARU Conduct Tribunal, Quade Cooper has been found guilty of two charges of bringing the code into disrepute following his controversial statements.
Cooper has copped a three match ban from Super Rugby or Wallabies Tests (suspended for two years), plus a huge up front fine of $40,000, with a further $20,000 suspended for two years.
The fines were for social media comments ($10,000) made on September 22 and social media and mainstream media comments ($50,000), totalling $60,000.
Cooper was summoned to appear after a number of criticisms which included calling the Wallabies set-up a toxic environment.
He addressed the large media contingent after the hearing, but didn’t take any questions.
“It was a very fair hearing and I was very happy with the outcome,” Cooper said.
“Obviously, the sentence that has been handed to me, I have full respect for that and I understand that I fell well below par in what it means to be a Wallaby.
“For all the supporters that are out there, my apologies.
“From now on, I’m just looking forward to the future – hopefully having a big year, with not only my state, but the Wallabies.
“And I’m very much looking forward to overcoming my injury and getting back out on the field.”
(with AAP.)
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- Quade Cooper, Rugby Union
October 31st 2012 @ 5:53pm
all7days said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:53pm | Report comment
Wow. Was not expecting such a harsh judgment. I hope he learns his lesson
November 1st 2012 @ 12:02am
Auric Goldfinger said | November 1st 2012 @ 12:02am | Report comment
Let him go to NRL for goodness sake. The most over-rated player in any sport you can name.
October 31st 2012 @ 5:56pm
Mumbles said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:56pm | Report comment
Now lets put all this stuff behind us and get QC back on the rails & doing what he does best…create scoring opportunities !!!!
October 31st 2012 @ 5:57pm
Jutsie said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:57pm | Report comment
Agreed
October 31st 2012 @ 6:19pm
Red Kev said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
x2
October 31st 2012 @ 7:48pm
Ra said | October 31st 2012 @ 7:48pm | Report comment
And me
October 31st 2012 @ 9:07pm
Mac said | October 31st 2012 @ 9:07pm | Report comment
Yep
October 31st 2012 @ 9:28pm
ozusa said | October 31st 2012 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
Ditto
October 31st 2012 @ 10:06pm
Who Needs Melon said | October 31st 2012 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
No, no, no. Let’s have another article on it tomorrow. And maybe 2 or 3 over the next few days as well. Who cares about the upcoming games and the players that WILL be playing. And while we’re at it, one on SBW too.
November 1st 2012 @ 11:17am
all7days said | November 1st 2012 @ 11:17am | Report comment
I think we should focus on if Quade has been poached our not.
November 1st 2012 @ 2:39pm
Riccardo said | November 1st 2012 @ 2:39pm | Report comment
Well he’s definitely an egg!
October 31st 2012 @ 8:08pm
Snobby Deans said | October 31st 2012 @ 8:08pm | Report comment
Mumbles – don’t you mean aggravating All Black captains on the field?
October 31st 2012 @ 10:54pm
Rob from Brumby Country said | October 31st 2012 @ 10:54pm | Report comment
Yep, you know a match is going to be low on tries when Quade is absent. Just look at Brisbane. Those poor All Blacks couldn’t take a trick.
November 1st 2012 @ 12:46pm
BetterDeadThanRed said | November 1st 2012 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
Love a bandwagon. Aye for me also.
November 1st 2012 @ 2:11pm
Dan said | November 1st 2012 @ 2:11pm | Report comment
Damn… I was sure you were going to say “slipping off tackles”.
October 31st 2012 @ 5:58pm
Atawhai Drive said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:58pm | Report comment
Slapped with a feather. A ban that isn’t, and a fine that would be a lot of money to you and me but spare change for Cooper, or at least his manager.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:27pm
SkinnyKid said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:27pm | Report comment
Rubbish – not sure how much you think these guys earn.
That would be 2-3 months worth of Quades take home pay. Would you like that for saying you didn’t like your work place?
October 31st 2012 @ 10:24pm
Nick said | October 31st 2012 @ 10:24pm | Report comment
I wouldn’t say it is spare change even to someone like Cooper. It is a lot of money for anyone to pay. A ban would not have been appropriate in this case. What he needed was a good dressing down, and a fine does a lot more IMO. Hopefully this gives him and other players in the team a good kick up the bum, and he starts playing to his potential as one of the real star players not only in Australia but in the world.
October 31st 2012 @ 5:59pm
biltongbek said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:59pm | Report comment
I don’t get the three match ban. He is injured, so wouldn’t have played anyway. where is that a punishment?
October 31st 2012 @ 6:00pm
PeterK said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:00pm | Report comment
it is a suspended ban. If he misbehaves again then the bans come into force. It is like being on parole.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:06pm
biltongbek said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:06pm | Report comment
AH, I see, but misbhaving is a broad spectrum, I suppose it means he must keep his mouth zipped.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:19pm
Red Kev said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
I imagine they’d trigger on any further code of conduct breaches.
October 31st 2012 @ 5:59pm
PeterK said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:59pm | Report comment
This is a fair punishment.
Tuqiri and others had suspended fines and match bans.
A good way to discourage more wayward comments and being fair.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:13pm
Wilson said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:13pm | Report comment
Sure. Because the suspended punishments and fines really worked well with Teqiri. Great point.
October 31st 2012 @ 8:00pm
PeterK said | October 31st 2012 @ 8:00pm | Report comment
they did work with Dunning and a couple of others who received suspended sentences.
October 31st 2012 @ 10:46pm
Worlds biggest said | October 31st 2012 @ 10:46pm | Report comment
I think for any pro athlete hitting them in the pocket is the most effective measure. Does that come out of his contract or does scumbag manager Khoder Nasser pay the bill ? 40 k is a reasonable whack but fair IMO. The suspended 3 game ban, if he happens to eff up at the end of Super Rugby he could miss the Lions series.
October 31st 2012 @ 5:59pm
GWS said | October 31st 2012 @ 5:59pm | Report comment
Bet his top up goes up by $60000. Get him back out there. With Jon gone maybe now rd will let them off the leash
October 31st 2012 @ 6:00pm
p.Tah said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:00pm | Report comment
Suspended ban. So he plays the opening games for the Reds? Then what he has a minor incident before the Lions and is banned for the series?
October 31st 2012 @ 6:10pm
Jiggles said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:10pm | Report comment
Wouldn’t his ban be the Wallabies games in Europe?
October 31st 2012 @ 6:12pm
GWS said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:12pm | Report comment
Suspended
October 31st 2012 @ 6:14pm
Jiggles said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:14pm | Report comment
They are indeed.
Thankfully common sense prevailed and they realised how valuable Cooper is with Beale not doing much at 10.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:19pm
formeropenside said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
Hopefully the suspended ban is only for making similar comments in future, not on-field stuff.
October 31st 2012 @ 7:08pm
Jiggles said | October 31st 2012 @ 7:08pm | Report comment
Yeah It would be… I hope.
October 31st 2012 @ 8:03pm
PeterK said | October 31st 2012 @ 8:03pm | Report comment
I believe it is like previous ones handed out, ie for any code of conduct violations, which in most cases are off the field ie drunken behaviour before a match, comments.
The only on field ones I remember a player getting censured for is getting involved with spectators ie giving the finger.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:59pm
PM said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:59pm | Report comment
When was the last thing QC did anything of substance in a wallabies guernsey? Beale has performed better in the role than QC has this year.
Common sense has prevailed my arse. Personally the ban should not be suspended.
October 31st 2012 @ 10:37pm
Dave said | October 31st 2012 @ 10:37pm | Report comment
Amen PM.
October 31st 2012 @ 11:13pm
PeterK said | October 31st 2012 @ 11:13pm | Report comment
Beale has set up 1 try in all his games.
Beale has actually had shockers except for the AB’s game.
Cooper did more playmaking in his game against Argentina than Beale in al of his put together.
Remember the tries setup by him?
Look how few tries we have scored with either Barnes or Beale at 10.
November 1st 2012 @ 8:18am
soapit said | November 1st 2012 @ 8:18am | Report comment
sohe should serve it while he’s injured. not sure that’d send much of a message.
November 1st 2012 @ 8:28am
Albo said | November 1st 2012 @ 8:28am | Report comment
You have to remember PeterK that Beale’s run at 10 included two games away from home in very hostile environments and for two tries.
The past 5 matches that Cooper has played for Australia, away from home, against top 10 countries has yielded only two tries. One against Wales in the WC before he got injured and one against Sth Africa in the WC. Two matches against the All Blacks and one against Ireland we scored zero tries.
Scoring away from home is considerably harder so you cannot compare Beale and Cooper on record until he has had the same opportunities to prove himself.
November 1st 2012 @ 8:32am
Red Kev said | November 1st 2012 @ 8:32am | Report comment
Well Albo you can start with their respective last games at Suncorp … but that doesn’t fit your criticism does it.
November 1st 2012 @ 8:38am
Albo said | November 1st 2012 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Firstly RK, my comment wasn’t a criticism. It was a request for a little bit of perspective associated with the comparisons of the two. I said at the end to let us see a little more before we draw lines in the sand.
Secondly their last games at Suncorp should not be compared on the same level as Quade had Genia, Ioane and Beale himself that night. Phipps, Cummins and Harris aren’t the same thing.
November 1st 2012 @ 8:47am
Jutsie said | November 1st 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment
I dont want to get into this whole QC debate again, I think its run its course and we should move on as suggested by mumbles above, but one thing that disheartens me is that QC fans have to knock beale to support their man.
Leave beale out of it, he has not had a perfect run in the no. 10 jumper but as Albo said put it into perspective its only his 3rd game at test level in the 10 jumper and he is still learning how to play at 10 under the intense pressure/pace of test rugby whilst playing behind a non-dominant pack. Lets remember that we used similar excuses to last year to cover up QC’s poor showing at the WC
-”you cant play properly when the pack is beaten”
-”he had mccabe and A. Faiinga outside him instead of barnes who could take the pressure off him”
etc.
Lets be fair if you can apply those excuses for QC then the same generosity should be offered to beale.
November 1st 2012 @ 8:50am
Red Kev said | November 1st 2012 @ 8:50am | Report comment
Perspective??? When discussing Quade Cooper???
Had Cooper played as poorly as Beale did when he “starred” at flyhalf the internet would be filled with vitriol.
People continually bring up the laptops to criticise Quade and ignore the fact that the issue is long resolved and charges were dropped after mediation … yet Kurtley still has outstanding assault charges because the mediation process has not been completed.
People want to hate Cooper.
November 1st 2012 @ 12:50pm
BetterDeadThanRed said | November 1st 2012 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
The doubt surely remains whether Quade and Deans can play nicely. Or that Quade will be allowed to play to his strengths (see Campo’s comments re Deans’ focus on goals rather than tries – which I agree with).
A number 10 will rarely look any good working with a pack going backwards. No 7′s the same.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:01pm
Crashy said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:01pm | Report comment
He’s the kind of bloke to spit the dummy and throw it all in. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. Rugby looks after its retires players like no other ( in terms of corporate opportunities rather than plum / token ‘media’ gigs for a couple of years) so it would be a shame if he threw it all away.
Deadset, because of his rugby talent, he gets a scholarship to an exclusive private school, a plum QRU contract and the world at his feet for the rest of his life if he plays it all right.
I wonder what Khoder’s next little strategy will be.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:26pm
GWS said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:26pm | Report comment
Khoder hates rugby. Sbw and qc to win league wc for .nz
October 31st 2012 @ 10:36pm
AJH said | October 31st 2012 @ 10:36pm | Report comment
It’s a pity that the ARU did not insist on khoder being replaced as Quade’s manager – he is living poison.
November 1st 2012 @ 12:16pm
garth said | November 1st 2012 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
Khoder hates league too. Prefers to be a boxing promoter. NZ League (Kiwis) don’t need QC, they’ve got Benji, and can’t trust SBW to stay in one place longer than 5 minutes.
Besides, looking at QC’s “appology”, it would appear that he and Nasser have realised that no ARL team wants QC, that the ARL hates Nasser and that SBW may not be allowed to play league after all (because of Nasser).
October 31st 2012 @ 6:05pm
Wilson said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:05pm | Report comment
Are the match bans for Wallaby games? The infringement was against the Wallabies so I hope the ban is for Wallaby games not Reds games. And suspended? What more does the guy need to do to get any real punishment. This guy is on roughly $1,000,000 a year. $60k is nothing to him. Did his ARU top up get ripped up at least, as he doesn’t want to play for the Wallabies? And have they banned him from social media for at least 12 months?
ARU you a joke. This means nothing. O’Neill your last act on your last day is another clueless joke. Cheers.
As expected, a feather bashing. You’ve been a bad, bad boy. Now go say you are sorry and we’ll just brush this under the lumping rug that is the ARU. Disgraceful.
October 31st 2012 @ 8:06pm
PeterK said | October 31st 2012 @ 8:06pm | Report comment
maybe the ARU since they are aware of all the internal factors (ie Cooper attempts to raise this in house) as well as the public ones and aware of the specific instances re the Wallaby set up that we are not privy to means they are in a better situation to give a fair punishment,
It seems to me the ARU knows it is not all Coopers fault.
October 31st 2012 @ 8:20pm
Carvin said | October 31st 2012 @ 8:20pm | Report comment
$60,000 is nothing??? So, if you earned $100,000, you wouldn’t be pissed with a $6,000 fine?? $60,000 is a LOT of money.
A fair punishment, and a good player who HOPEFULLY this time has learned a long lasting lesson.
October 31st 2012 @ 8:40pm
barbz said | October 31st 2012 @ 8:40pm | Report comment
I’m living off $18k a year and I copped a rego fine for $320. That’s 1.8% of my annual income and I can tell you that it bloody hurt and I will never forget to renew my rego again. $60k is 6% of $1 mil and that’s ignoring all the tax he pays. I don’t think the fine is as painless as you claim.
*Edit – I’m a uni student.
October 31st 2012 @ 11:17pm
IronAwe said | October 31st 2012 @ 11:17pm | Report comment
Agreed Barbz. I spat my coffee out when I read the amount of the fine. I think it will have the desired effect. Looking forward to moving on and having him back.
November 1st 2012 @ 9:46am
Blue Blood said | November 1st 2012 @ 9:46am | Report comment
At the moment it is $40k. But I get your point. I guess I don’t believe that a fine is enough of a deterant and not fitting the infringement. To me the wrong was done against the Wallabies jersey. The punishment should involve a ban from the Wallabies jersey for games he might have actually played – so bans for games once he is actually fit to play. The Lions tour would have been appropriate in my mind and no ARU top up for next year. If he behaved then negotiations for future years would be considered.
He would still get match payments for games played on spring tour on 2013 if selected and fit to play. Many Wallabies past and present font receive Wallaby top up at all and just get match payments. At over $10k a game it is hardly small fry. I guess when you think that $40k is only 4 match payments it isn’t that much. Match payments are paid on top of any ARU top up and super salary. I think when money comes in that fast it doesn’t mean nothing, but I don’t think it hurts as bad as a rego fine for a student.
November 1st 2012 @ 10:06am
Wilson said | November 1st 2012 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Well said. It is a chunk of cash but when money has been flowing fast into your account for so long does it mean THAT much. What about a social media ban? That’s what started this fiasco in the first place.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:17pm
Red Kev said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:17pm | Report comment
Sensible punishment. A suspended sentence will have more impact since it is an effective parole as PeterK said. Instead of him missing matches he would have missed anyway they’ve enforced good behaviour on him for the next two years.
I actually expected a bigger monetary fine and community service thrown in too.
October 31st 2012 @ 6:38pm
nickoldschool said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:38pm | Report comment
agree RK.
Listening to him this arvo the cynical in me felt that:
1/he might have realised that he needed the wallabies as much (understand ‘more’) than they needed him.
2/ i dont think he had received great offers from overseas or RL, hence his mood change.
3/ he realised that he didnt have much support from his fellow wallabies after all
reckon its a good lesson for everyone involved. move on
October 31st 2012 @ 6:59pm
AndyS said | October 31st 2012 @ 6:59pm | Report comment
He flapped his yap when he was injured this time. If he does the same again next time, will they wait for him to be fit before they ban him?