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Mystery remains over Quade Cooper’s immediate future following a television report the controversial Wallabies playmaker is quitting rugby to take up boxing.
News broke on the Nine Network on Monday evening that Cooper would be lost to the code but Australian and Queensland rugby officials aren’t sure whether the report was accurate or a tactic to garner a better top-up contract from the Australian Rugby Union.
Neither the ARU nor QRU had been informed by Cooper or his agent, Khoder Nasser, that he intended tearing up his three-year Super Rugby deal with the Reds which would take him through to the 2015 World Cup.
Despite Cooper being among the most talented and exciting players in the game, the ARU has offered him a low-grade incentive-based deal for 2013.
The offer has been tabled in the past fortnight, since the 24-year-old was slugged with a $40,000 fine for his criticism of the Wallabies, telling AAP in September the national team housed a “toxic environment”.
He’d originally failed to sign off on a more significant ARU deal that was first put to him in July after he re-signed with the Reds.
Although Cooper is close friends with another Nasser stablemate in Sonny Bill Williams, he has never spoken seriously about a desire to box before.
Monday night’s bombshell, which came hours after Cooper tweeted a picture of himself and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, was met by surprise from both the QRU and ARU.
“The ARU has had no communication with Quade Cooper or his management,” an ARU spokesman said.
The timing of the report is also intriguing as it comes almost 48 hours after the Wallabies shored up coach Robbie Deans’s position for next year with a 20-14 win over England at Twickenham.
Wallabies captain Nathan Sharpe said Cooper’s actions didn’t impact upon the team.
“Every player goes through their own contract negotiations in different ways and obviously Quade’s is pretty public,” Sharpe told AAP in Florence on Monday.
“In terms of the impact on the team, we’ve had a really good internal focus on how we deal with that …
“I think we saw with the (`toxic environment’) comments that were made while we were in South Africa, we bounced back from that well and focused really well. We had a good performance in Argentina and then against New Zealand in Brisbane, so I’m not concerned about that.”
In spite of a rocky 2012, QRU boss Jim Carmichael and Reds coach Ewen McKenzie have consistently stated their confidence that the star playmaker would remain at Ballymore in 2013.
They also had had no contact with Cooper on Monday and Queensland chairman Rod McCall was calling ARU chairman Michael Hawker, currently in London with the Wallabies, for clarity over the contract negotiations.
Carmichael admitted his frustrations at the latest twist and did attempt to control the damage if Cooper walked out on the code.
“I still genuinely believe he’s an important asset to the game moving forward but it’s up to Quade and the ARU where they’re happy to move on,” he told AAP. “It’s frustrating that’s for sure.
If Cooper wanted to continue his rugby career overseas he would have to wait until next August to gain a high-paying contract in Europe or Japan but would not be eligible for Test football.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.