Cooper wants rugby to do talking
Rather than call Robbie Deans, outspoken playmaker Quade Cooper wants to improve the odds of a Wallabies recall by letting his rugby do the talking.
Cooper is back in the national team mix, ending six months of strained negotiations with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) by signing a two-year deal, reportedly worth $800,000 a season.
Sealing an ARU deal was difficult, especially with Cooper preparing for a February 8 professional boxing debut and receiving a French rugby offer that would have made him one of the world’s highest-paid players.
The Queensland playmaker’s days under Deans appeared numbered when he described the Wallabies’ culture as “toxic”, resulting in a $40,000 fine and a downgraded ARU offer that was later renegotiated.
However, Cooper said regaining top form – not offering an olive branch to Deans – was his priority.
Asked how he could improve relations with Deans, Cooper said: “It is not something I have to go out and improve.
“I have a job to do. His job is to coach and get the best out of the team.
“Hopefully, the better I play for Queensland, the more opportunities I get there (Wallabies).”
Asked if he would like to play under Deans again, Cooper said: “Of course – he’s the coach.
“If I get the opportunity to play for Australia again, we will go about it like any other player and coach.”
Cooper did not believe his hefty fine would place him at the back of the queue.
“It’s a fine. The performance is what matters – that beats everything else,” he said.
The five-eighth committed to a new three-year deal with the Reds in June but that was dependent on signing with the ARU.
Talks with the ARU were on the brink of collapse late last month when he was offered a new incentive-based deal.
But Cooper said he never seriously contemplated walking away from Australian rugby after seeing the Reds’ hierarchy fight hard to renegotiate his ARU deal.
“I look forward to playing my best on the paddock and show them (Reds) how much their support means to me,” he said.
He also looked forward to combining one day for the Wallabies with new NSW Waratahs signing, the sport-hopping Israel Folau.
“To have a player of his stature in rugby union is only good for the game. I am sure he will go well,” he said.
“And I think his aerial skills will be superior to most rugby players at the moment.”
© AAP 2013- Explore:
- Quade Cooper, Queensland Reds, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
December 8th 2012 @ 8:54am
Ra said | December 8th 2012 @ 8:54am | Report comment
And that is all we expect from any professional.
December 8th 2012 @ 12:04pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
Cooper wants twiitter to do the talking.
December 8th 2012 @ 9:04am
bennalong said | December 8th 2012 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Without knowing the deal, it’s hard to know if Quade has learnt anything.
If he isn’t man enough to call the coach he bagged, the coach who has kept the door open, then I suspect he’ll repeat the same mistakes again to prove he was right in the first place.
I hope the impression given in the piece is wrong.
He seems to think its only about the rugby on the paddock.
How he conducts himself off the field, and as part of the team is going to be critical
December 8th 2012 @ 9:50am
WQ said | December 8th 2012 @ 9:50am | Report comment
You are on the money here beenalong, Cooper has learned nothing and I imagine it will not be long and he will repeat his previous behaviour!
December 8th 2012 @ 10:23am
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 10:23am | Report comment
I’m not sure. He has already spoken with Robbie since the incident. It’s difficult to know at this early stage whether he has grown up or not. If not I guess the ARU has just blown a few dollars.
But I am impressed at the professionalism and integrity of the ARU and Deans through all this saga.
A bridge too far? I think the jury is still out.
December 8th 2012 @ 11:03am
Blue Blood said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:03am | Report comment
I agree. If the ARU caved and went back to their original top up offer, with no incentive base, then where is his motivation? They have rewarded his attitude and actions. Being a Wallaby is more than being a good Reds player.
In a way I also think Cooper has caved in. His biggest gripe he repeatativy raised was the lack of permanent training facilities for the Wallabies; an interesting gripe when it is a touring program and they have the choice of any if the super training facilities to use. They elect to use the Tahs facilities I’m sure largely as it is a 15minute drive home for Deans but that’s just speculation. But to date I don’t think this has been rectified.
So besides Deans and Cooper saying they are happy to work together as player and coach what has really changed? Have the strength of your convictions Cooper. But don’t cause a storm on your soap box, then back peddle through the Reds management spokesmen, give an apology after coping a fine (paid out of your Wallaby inflated pay cheque) and then eventually sign back on because the money came good. What a great man filled with integrity? But him playing for the Reds is good. If they can manage him and get their pins of flesh then great. And if he has the form to warrant being called back into the Wallabies I hope he does so humbly and appreciates what he nearly lost due to his own actions and ungracious attitude.
But if this is the last article on this matter we hear and the last press conference we get from Cooper in the next 6 months that will be a win. There are so many worthy rugby players in this country doing great things, being great club and community men and doing it all without bringing down the national team who I’d love to hear about. The big winner in all this has been the media. Well back to work crew and go find some new news.
December 8th 2012 @ 10:54am
harryonthecoast said | December 8th 2012 @ 10:54am | Report comment
Let’s hope he will only be a blockhead this time around.
December 8th 2012 @ 11:07am
bigbaz said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:07am | Report comment
We’re lucky to have QC. The Roar would be about 3,000 blogs worse off without him.
December 8th 2012 @ 11:31am
Ra said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:31am | Report comment
yeah but those blogs were from a small handful of losers who can’t stand to see their national side win. So that’s about 3000 loser statements we dont need to waste good constructive debate over, so The Roar is better off without him – yeah ????
December 8th 2012 @ 11:36am
Ra said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:36am | Report comment
but the team could be better off with him, so he should just let his game do the talking cause he’s good at that job, and he does it better when his foot’s not stuck in his mouth
December 8th 2012 @ 11:24am
bennalong said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:24am | Report comment
Is the blog bigger than the game? (ha, ha !)
December 8th 2012 @ 11:42am
expatmatt said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:42am | Report comment
leopards and thier spots-seriouslly this muppet is overrated, just a shame ARU didnt have the cohjons to ditch him
December 8th 2012 @ 2:01pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 2:01pm | Report comment
Agreed.
Has he ever really stood up and played well for Aust under pressure? Not often.
He plays poorly for Aust and sulks by posting harmful remarkes on twitter and attacking the Wallies on tv. “Its their fault Im playing poorly”.
No Quade, its your fault you kicked the ball out on the full, duffed the kick off, cant tackle and keep missing touch.
The issues I have with Cooper is that he devides, he is inconsistent, he blames others for his faults and is obviously not a team player. Will he change? Well dont you have to admit fault for that to happen? I am pretty sure he wont do that.
Besides I would have dropped him anyway due to poor form.
Should have sat back and enjoyed him getting the snot beaten out of him in the boxing ring.
December 8th 2012 @ 5:40pm
Post said | December 8th 2012 @ 5:40pm | Report comment
Your premise is simply incorrect, the Wallabies win more with Quade than without him. Your dislike for him personally doesn’t change that.
December 8th 2012 @ 5:47pm
TJ said | December 8th 2012 @ 5:47pm | Report comment
not against the best side in the world in new zealand. here he plays like a school boy. thats what counts!
December 8th 2012 @ 6:00pm
PeterK said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:00pm | Report comment
the Wallabies have won more with QC against AB’s than without him since his debut at test level.
December 8th 2012 @ 6:46pm
TJ said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:46pm | Report comment
he is the worst no 10 we’ve had in the professional era. an international joke. i say jog on quade.
December 8th 2012 @ 6:18pm
Justin2 said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:18pm | Report comment
wrong.
Seriously the people who continue to deride Cooper due to his awful efforts in the WC “finals” need to get real.
Can you al name the players who stood up in those matches?
Nah its all QCs fault… next.
December 8th 2012 @ 6:30pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
You are 100% right nobody else stood up, but he stood out for some awful mistakes. Would they have won had it been someone else, NO so in that you are right.
But on another note he allso has holes in his game which can be exposed at first five. Moving QC in and out on defence can cause confusion and teams will learn to exploit it.
The frustrating thig for mine is the equally often repeated stat that Wallabies win best with QC. On that premise Ricky Ponting should sill be playing I think everyone needs to ake a beath and see if he can put it on the field.
All this talk is just hot air. Love him or hate him really doesn’t matter. He has potential, but he is still a long way from fulfilling it. I hear people compare him to Carlos Spencer all the time. That is also an absolute crock. QC would struggle to be as good as Carlos when Carlos was playing colts. He could kick, pass, tackle, run in heavy traffic and weave magic. If aybody has ever had the pivilege to watch Carlos live, they’d realise why he was held in such high esteem round the world.
QC is not in that class and to tout im a a world class player at this stage of his career is also a stretch… IMO. But he may get there… still a good ways to go in my humble opinion.
December 8th 2012 @ 7:40pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 7:40pm | Report comment
Who said it was Quades fault?
He played crap. Does that not count if others did too?
December 8th 2012 @ 7:44pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 7:44pm | Report comment
Quade very rarely plays well at international level.
Is that wrong?
Dont try and pass this off as hate. Argue the facts. Hes been dropped, had the place kicking taken from him, played rubbish more times than I can count. His defence is so bad they hide him away from the play. Who else does that?
His WC was horrible.
Yet this is just hate? No its called honest evaluation, you guys should try it.
December 9th 2012 @ 5:13am
Justin2 said | December 9th 2012 @ 5:13am | Report comment
Yes he has been such an ordinary 10 since he debuted they just kept picking him. I recall all the media baying for his blood constantly because he was so poor so often!
Your admitted dislike of cooper clouds your memory me thinks…
December 8th 2012 @ 7:36pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 7:36pm | Report comment
The Wallabies win more with Quade?
Really, where did you get that “fact” from?
I pretty sure Aust does just fine without Quade. My personal dislike for Quade doesnt make me think he didnt play well against NZ or SA this year or played rubbish in the WC. Thats a fact no matter how your skewed view is clouded by your like for Quade. He has really underperformed at test level.
It is not a fact that Aust wins more with him than without him. Thats simply not true. Are you gonna tell me Quade has often played well for Aust when it mattered?
Aust won 6 in a row against Wales without him, drew with NZ without him, beat SA without him
December 8th 2012 @ 7:47pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 7:47pm | Report comment
Sorry I think when Aust won against SA cooper was there…playing rubbish AGAIN.
December 8th 2012 @ 8:28pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 8:28pm | Report comment
The Aust team does not win more becuz of Quade. They may have won more with him in the team but thats not as a result of him being in the team.
Why does this stat not work? In 2010, 2011 & 2012 NZ lost more with McCaw and Carter in the team. Perhaps they should drop them if your stat means something.
Its a nothing stat.
What counts is how they play and Cooper has been ordinary in the majority of internationals since 2010.
December 9th 2012 @ 5:10am
Justin2 said | December 9th 2012 @ 5:10am | Report comment
Tackle – brilliant stuff. Do some research and then come back and argue he facts.
You couldn’t make it up, seriously
December 9th 2012 @ 11:00am
Sage said | December 9th 2012 @ 11:00am | Report comment
You’re a patient man J2
December 8th 2012 @ 2:03pm
x_man said | December 8th 2012 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
I think the ARU simply realised that they can not afford to lose Cooper. Although he is a giant knob he is also a walking headline, which is good for the game, but more importantly, there is also a severe lack of quality fly half’s in Australia at the moment. Kurtley has been trying his best but he plays far to laterally and is much more dangerous at fullback and Berrick Barnes simply can’t control his predisposition to perpetually kick away possession. I don’t like seeing the ARU have to perform an embarrassing backflip but I agree with their assessment that we are unlikely to be able to beat the Lions with out Quade…
December 8th 2012 @ 11:27pm
IronAwe said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:27pm | Report comment
This.
Love him or hate him, who else do we have?
December 8th 2012 @ 2:19pm
Jock M said | December 8th 2012 @ 2:19pm | Report comment
And the Rugby brand is driven further into the slime.
The game they played in Heaven is dying.
December 8th 2012 @ 2:42pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 2:42pm | Report comment
Only in Australia…. the game is played outside Austalia too if you haven’t noticed and trust me the rest of the worlld could give two hoots about QC and peoples love/hate affair with Robbie Deans.
So the game they played in heaven has a few sour pusses… trust me in countries like NZ and SA the game is held in the same high regard it has always been… and in other countries it is still growing and doing ok thanks.
And I’m not sure it is dying here either, did Alan Jones or Campese put you up to this?
December 8th 2012 @ 6:19pm
Justin2 said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
Believe me the game will be in shut more without Cooper than without Deans…
December 8th 2012 @ 7:08pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 7:08pm | Report comment
Is that your expert opnion? It’s ok J2 I know your opinion on both these two, doesn’t make it relevant as it is not an either or situation.
December 8th 2012 @ 8:48pm
Hightackle said | December 8th 2012 @ 8:48pm | Report comment
Yeah what Aust rugby needs is a guy who often plays poorly at international level, turns his back on the Wallaby jumper, trashes the team on social media and tv, drives without a liscence, steals lap tops, threatens to go elswhere becuz the wallaby environment is “toxic” and cant tackle.
See kids, if you stick at it, you could be like Quade and hey sponsors! Come and support guys like Quade.
No the game is better off without Quade Cooper as he is but they are hoping he will change.
December 8th 2012 @ 11:29pm
IronAwe said | December 8th 2012 @ 11:29pm | Report comment
Wait, wasn’t it Beale who lost his license and then got busted for driving without it?
December 9th 2012 @ 11:06am
Sage said | December 9th 2012 @ 11:06am | Report comment
Not true. Quade is of interest more than you may think. Planet Rugby et al.
December 9th 2012 @ 11:03am
Sage said | December 9th 2012 @ 11:03am | Report comment
Goodness me. I didn’t even realise there was any slime
December 8th 2012 @ 3:06pm
Jock M said | December 8th 2012 @ 3:06pm | Report comment
Sadly Chivas the game they play now is more like an abridged version of Rugby League.
Perhaps in reality Rugby has already died.
No Campesi and Alan jones didn’t put me up to this!
Actually I get frustrated with campesi becuase i believe that he does not understand the depth of the Law changes which have detroyed the type of football that he and the Ellas played.
December 8th 2012 @ 3:40pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
I know… I was teasing about AJ and Campese. My point was it was a rather large generlsation more commonly aligned with the sensaionalist comments of these two.
I’m not sure all the rule changes are killing the game. I think the anti-rucking laws have caused more problems than solved, but remember it was Australia who was so desparate to have this removed. There is now no point in committing to the rucks and mauls. If you don’t get there first and have your hands on the ball… commit a couple of players and spread the rest.
Allow rucking and Australia will once again get beaten up in the forwards, as will other teams who can’t master it. Good teams will adapt to the rules and find ways to win. As stated, regardless of whether Australia can adapt (which is up to them) other teams will.
There are some genuine contenders coming through. Rugby will always adapt… it did when things went professional and it has after each set of rule changes. Remember, each new generation doesn’t look back nostalgically and apart from for a bit of conversation nor should we, else we fail to provide the correct encouragement to those coming through. We are all guilty of it, but that is why I think park footy and following friends and friends kids is fun and that is what Australian rugby is really missing out on.
And the old chestnut… it’s like league is always rolled out, but league players really sruggle to cut it in union, which is strange if lines and defences were really the same. The contest for the ball is still what sets the codes apart. As stated things which reduce this contest for the ball, like no rucking makes rugby more league like…. but as I also stated, Australia wanted this. they still want the whole game played in the backs with minimal use of forwards… it’s more entertaining than watching a bunch of blokes cuddling and groping one another in the middle of the field, so I wonder if Australia really wants to watch league, but with a private school elite edge to it?
I think the changes need to stop for a bit though to allow strategies to evolve…. oh and please bring back rucking
December 8th 2012 @ 3:32pm
Keith of WA said | December 8th 2012 @ 3:32pm | Report comment
If he really wanted his rugby to do the talking then he would have accepted the previous contract and got on with it…. easy to talk about it just being about the rugby AFTER you got the big money….
And as for not having to go out and improve something… well that again just shows the perspective the punk actually has….
December 8th 2012 @ 3:46pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
I agree Keith…. I don’t think this is a great press release either.
December 8th 2012 @ 5:45pm
Post said | December 8th 2012 @ 5:45pm | Report comment
He literally said the exact opposite of that regarding his game. The not going out and improving was in regards to his relations with Deans, as in not kissing up to him personally. Regarding performance on the field he said it was the most important thing and he wanted to show the Reds how much their support means to him.
What’s with you anti-quade guys grabbing on any quote and completely distorting it to make him look bad? It doesn’t make any sense to me.
December 8th 2012 @ 6:53pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:53pm | Report comment
It’s a team game Post… as a team communication is also vitally important…. isn’t it? He wants to be part of the leadersip group, but doesn’t know how to communicate when things go pear shaped and doesn’t see the need to. But I also think that is reading too much into it. It’s just a press rlease. am sure none of us would get it right and has an IQ of about 20 and Khoder, well he doesn’t really care.
But that said, it is also ok for people to feel disappointed in his actions without the need to label people anti or pro asmany here do. And if you think to broker peace with a coach who has reached out and offered an olive branch on multiple occassions is kissing up… well perhaps that is why he finds himself where he is, but fortunately these are your words and not his.
Anyway, decisions have ben made. He is back. Let’s see if he is really a proud Wallaby or just a yellow jersey wearer. I hope he proves to be the former.
December 8th 2012 @ 6:20pm
Justin2 said | December 8th 2012 @ 6:20pm | Report comment
Yes brilliant take any old contract rather than the one they were willing to pay.
December 8th 2012 @ 7:00pm
Chivas said | December 8th 2012 @ 7:00pm | Report comment
It’s interesting though J2 watching the mechanism and strings that get pulled in these negotiations. It’s all a bit of one step, two step, some smoke and mirrors, a bluff or two… ultimately who wants it more.
Personally I think you have to trust that the right deciion has been made. They are all professionals and would weigh it up as a business transaction and the value it is to themselves and that is on all sides of he tansaction. I could imagne with QC there were a few more considerations, but it seems the majority of the ARU and coacheshave faith in what he can deliver, else I imagine he wouldn’t have got what he got.