Ban Quade for a year: Connolly

Go back to Mac Herewini, and even the pocket dynamo of a HB Sid Going. A team game is to played as a team. One player on his own can never win you the game but he can lose it

Great un-biased and insightful analysis mate. One of the best posts Ive read around here.

Quade is contrite now, and wants to be chummy again with the wallabies. Perhaps he and his manager now realise that league isn't that interested in him. People defending him said his comments were taken out of context, he was speaking the truth that nobody dares say. Personally, I am still unsure if he is the right person for Test no 10. The fact that he lost his marbles off-field (and on-field as shown by his debacle performace at the World Cup) shows that his mindset and self-discipline is weak. Bernie and Lynagh were icemen personified. I think Quade needs a psychologist. And we haven't even mentioned his tackling. Perhaps playing ball overseas would be good for him, not just financially but to sort out the mess in his life. I think ARU and Deans showing him some tough love now will actually benefit him in the long term. Kurtley does not have a passing game as good as Quade's, but he has shown mental fortitude, less likely to self-destruct and has other attributes better than Quade such as speed and more importantly, defense. As much as I hate defence orientated tryless games, it's what win games against the big guns like the all blacks. Kurtley needs to develop longer passing game to get the ball to the wingers.

Neil Wolfe, the electric Taranaki whizz of the mid-1960s was said to have been too small to be the All Blacks stand off, he made it, but was pushed to centre by Ross Brown, for Taranaki as well, Steven Pokere suffered the same fate, and his international career died out there as the All Blacks all Canterbury backline denied his brilliant talents any ball, steady Eddie Dunn was lucky he had his brother Richard inside him, otherwise his brilliance might not have been seen at Test level, Even Frano Botica some said didn't know what he was doing or where he was going as he set about carving holes in oppositions defense lines with deft footwork at full pace, some even said he was too unreliable as a goal kicker, Carlos Spencer, the last of these gifted legends of the game, all share the same faults as Quade Cooper, too damn brilliant for other people's liking !

Fine him $100,000 for his 'toxic' statements, and if he doesn't pay by 30 November, cut the last month of his 2012 payments. Until he pays the full amount of his fine ban him from playing rugby in Australia or overseas. If he then plays RL - who cares?

"In australia the ARU and state unions are going broke." As best I can tell, the ARU finances have again been brought into the black through some careful management. JON takes a lot of the credit for that, but its also the board who stood behind him. Talking about any one player as the person who can "help turn all of this around" is laughable. Lets stick to reality, please. Apart from anything else, it puts entirely unrealistic expectations on that player. The stats are irrelevant. We already know Quade is a very effective S15 player, and a reasonably effective test player. He has the potential to continue to be a force in the Wallabies. We already knew all of that. QC isn't the messiah. In this particular case he has been a bit of a naughty boy (in the Monty Python sense) and needs to be set straight. Probably the best people to do it would be Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Will Genia and AAC. Take him into the proverbial back room and tell him straight - "you've overstepped the mark mate. That's not what Wallabies do. If you expect the lads to play with you, don't do it again. Now, this is over, nothing more to be said, get well and let's see you back when you are fit".

Nothing honest or courageous about it. Foolish and ill-displined, perhaps well-intentioned, and quite possibly manipulated by someone else for dubious ends. Definitely not the end of the world, but he needs to be told that this sort of thing is not on. Take a break for a while, work things through and maybe come back an even better all-round player than he was before.

Straw man, anyone? But in case you really do think people want to burn Quade, so to speak, then I wouldn't agree with them. He made a mistake in speaking out as he did, and he should be disciplined. But people can learn from discipline - that is the whole point of it. He's a young bloke with talent and potential, and some flaws. I think a firm strong hand would help him.

You can't "ignore the messenger" Jiggles. It wasn't his place to make a public comment like that.

QC is not 'the messenger'. He is a spoilt, entitled baby with a massive ego. He's clearly not up to test rugby. He should be offered a $1 top up ARU contract for the year and not selected for the Wallabies. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].

best post on this yet. Most of the traditionalists wont get it though.

Kuruki You said what I wanted to say much better than I could. The other posters who had it with Cooper need to realise that it took courage to do what Cooper did. He knew that his career is on the line and yet he pushed through. Robbie Deans RWC and post RWC effort is ridiculous and I am glad someone in the team is man enough to say it and took the great risk of being sanctioned. Yes. Cooper was dumb but he is at the same time honest and courageous.

You can spout on and on about his talent but if Quade Cooper was playing in NZ, he would never make an All Blacks team. Clearly not good enough at the fundamentals that are vital for one of the most important positions in a rugby team.

Cooper is a square peg in a round hole. I bet he was uncontrollable at school too, the type who couldn't sit still, usually calling out, usually wrong, usually interfering with others and usually sent out of class. His mother would be a regular at school for lots of the wrong reasons. That is a typical blueprint for a number of young people classified by an ed psych as Class B. They are usually the schools most gifted and talented athletes. They learn best by being outdoors "doing hands on" making mistakes and redoing. They are sometimes frustrating to work with because their obvious talent, is shaded by their unexplainable antisocial and static behavior. Class A students are just that. They are comfortable in a classroom setting. Not necessarily academically talented, but rather conformist, or not at that time as sporty, or not yet as physically mature as their Class B peers. They usually show up on time, follow instructions most of the time, are in the right uniform and go on through the system to achieve their goals in adulthood. Unfortunately most Class B do not go on to achieve the lofty goals their natural talents. Mostly because the system is not geared up to cater for those types of learners and they are dumped in the "too hard basket". I applaud Robbie Deans for saying he wants to continue to work with Quade, to try to work things through. Class B students need people around them who "think outside the box" who are patient and who are prepared to "shift the boundaries" in and out. Yes, Quade over stepped the mark, but not for what he said, but for the audience he said it to. Peer review where his Wallaby team mates get to anonymously write one thing good that Quade does well and one thing he needs to work on is by far a better tool for behavior change than our barking for disciplinary action would ever do. A jury in a courtroom allows for a person to be judged by a panel of his/her peers. This has the same concept. I know this may sound too far out for those baying for Quade's blood, but this along with psychological behavioral support and a patient coach is probably best for Quade.

Why just a year? The guy is poison. When he is playing he is very inconsistent, especially against the big teams. He is also disruptive off the field. How many off field issues do you have with the guy. He is also disrespectful to the Wallabies and what it means to wear a Wallaby jersey. You guys do not need him. Beale will be an excellent #10 and allows you to use O'Connor where he should be playing, #15. Do you think if he played for the All Blacks or Springboks and disrespected the team the way he did he would have any chance of ever wearing the jersey again? Answer is no and he should be showed no player is bigger than the team.

Think Cooper still has some growing up to do. We have already seen indiscretions from Beale and O 'Connor. Never want to see kids in a Wallaby jumper. Let them grow up first. If they're not prepared to 'p*ss blood' for the gold jumper, and be men, leave them out. The value of the jumper is more important than these guys careers.

You can't "honour" the Qld contract - the ARU has to sign off on every player for every franchise.

QC lacks class- go to nrl Won't be missed

Well said Kuruki. Quade is the single most influential player in Australian Super 15. He is young and has the potetnial to become a great Wallaby. Because he doesn't play the way that the blazer crowd think he should play, he cops incredbile and over the top criticism. My interest in the Wallabies has almost disappeared this year. I haven't seen a single moment where they demonstrated the type of creative rugby that we always identify as being "Australian". The atmosphere is not what it should be. The freedom to play with risk and daring has gone. Quade clearly doens't fit in that environment, but he clearly plays incredibly well with McKenzie as his coach. IF he thinks the atmosphere is toxic then it probably is, for a player with his skill set. The rest of you who want to ban a bloke for speaking his mind need to have a serious think about your value set.

I agree Justin, just these stars get put up continuously in an effort to make a point. I also agree with your comment and as Quades game develops I am sure he will become more balanced and consistent. At the moment he is not a complete player, but he has the ability to become one.