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After Australia defeated South Africa in the Rugby World Cup, it was suddenly in vogue to heap scorn upon mercurial Wallabies fly half Quade Cooper.
Pre-tournament, Cooper was universally acknowledged as the key to the Wallabies chances of bringing home the William Webb Ellis trophy.
Yet such is the fickle nature of sport, that after Sunday’s quarter final, there were calls for Cooper to be dumped from the team.
Confession time: I was leading the chorus against Cooper at approximately 6pm on Sunday night. His play against the Springboks gave me, and most of Australia, a coronary. Cooper hasn’t had the greatest World Cup, but he was particularly poor in Sunday’s victory.
All athletes, let alone rugby players, are allowed one poor performance. However, when Cooper has a bad game, he has an absolute shocker.
Far from simply having a ‘quiet’ match, Cooper usually puts in a performance so eye-catching in its ineptitude, that it generally becomes the main storyline of the game.
He’s prone to mental errors that defy belief.
Yet his detractors, including me, would be wise to remember that Cooper can be an absolute joy to watch. Yes, he can be frustrating, but when he’s on-song, he’s just about the most entertaining rugby player in the world.
That last point shouldn’t be taken lightly. After witnessing England’s insipid style of football under Jonny Wilkinson, or South Africa’s propensity for drop goals with Morne Steyn wearing the number 10 jersey, fans of Australian rugby should be thankful that Cooper mans the position for the Wallabies. No one could ever accuse Australia’s fly half of being dull.
Yet before certain fans protest that style means nothing, and winning is the only thing that counts, it’s worth noting that Cooper’s style is not at the sacrifice of substance.
After all, he led the Queensland Red to the Super Rugby title this year, the Wallabies to the Tri-Nations trophy, and despite his performance on Sunday, Australia find themselves in the World Cup semi-finals.
Cooper’s style of play is as successful as it is unpredictable. He certainly plays with flair, but he can also be a match-winner. He should be celebrated, encouraged and revered.
And yet there will be officials at NRL club, the Parramatta Eels, letting out a sigh of a relief this week.
After signing Souths halfback Chris Sandow and Manly winger Will Hopoate (for the 2014 season), the money that the club had originally designated for poaching Quade Cooper would now appear to have been spent, and Parramatta’s plans to sign Cooper are all but over.
And I think the Eels will feel like they dodged a bullet.
Cooper is an amazing talent, with beautiful hands and wonderful attacking instincts. He would be a sensation in attack for an NRL team. And considering the limited tackle rules of rugby league, which generally ensures that possession between teams is fairly evenly split, it means Cooper’s occasional turnovers would be less of a concern to any NRL suitors.
However, the other area of Cooper’s game that would be a concern in rugby league is his defence. Cooper makes a lot of mistakes in that facet of football. From poor reads, to plenty of missed tackles.
Whilst there is no question that Cooper could play first grade rugby league, and be extremely effective in attack, his defensive shortcomings would indicate that he wouldn’t be an out-and-out superstar in the code.
Or, in other words, not worth the $850,000 figure that was being bandied about when the Eels were trying to sign him.
The best rugby league halves of the last 20 odd years include names like Andrew Johns, Darren Lockyer, Brad Fittler, Johnathan Thurston, Wally Lewis, Allan Langer and Laurie Daley. These players were not just solid defenders, they were outstanding defenders, cementing their superstar status in the game due to their abilities in both attack and defence.
Benji Marshall is the only superstar rugby league half in recent times who has ever had his defensive capabilities called into question. But Benji has tightened up that part of his game considerably, and even at his worst, he was still significantly better than Cooper.
Ben Barba is a wonderful attacking player for the Bulldogs, but his defensive game needs a lot of work. At the moment, he would be regarded as merely a ‘good’ first grade player, albeit an extremely entertaining one. He’s certainly not a superstar of the game yet, nor is he paid like one.
Cooper is a much better player than Barba, but one feels that if Cooper made the switch to league, he would be considered much closer to Barba’s class than Thurston’s.
This isn’t about which code is better – both are brilliant and equal in my eyes, and any code war comments can be saved for another article. This is about the qualities of an outstanding fly half in rugby union, versus the qualities of an outstanding five-eighth in rugby league. And at this point of his career, Cooper is more suited to rugby.
The bottom line is that Cooper wouldn’t be worth the $850,000 that the Eels were allegedly going to throw at him, and as a result, the fact Parramatta didn’t sign him is actually a blessing in disguise for the club.
In signing Sandow and Hopoate, it’s debateable whether Parramatta ended up spending that money wisely anyway, but that’s a topic for another day.
The point is that Quade Cooper staying in rugby union is the best thing for the Eels, the Wallabies, and above all, Cooper himself.
You can follow Ryan on Twitter @RyanOak