At the ARU head office, nestled in the leafy surrounds of St. Leonards, Quade Cooper is not a popular man. He isn’t the guy who will tow the party line on every occasion.
He also makes the mistakes like saying what he thinks, and retaining an awful manager.
Unfortunately for the ARU, and the traditional rugby fraternity, Cooper is also one of the better players in a country where locals love to fall back on the lack of ‘cattle’ excuse at every opportunity.
So, well done to the ARU. You’ve managed to cut off a talented exponent of the game while also alienating the young fan base.
Is there anything else you expected to achieve out of this “negotiation is an extension of punishment” fiasco?
Don’t kid yourself that the Wallabies and Reds are going to miraculously be better teams because he isn’t available anymore.
Cooper is, in fact, such a good number 10 that Robbie Deans put the career of Matt Giteau on ice once he saw Cooper step around some nice blocking, twirl around another defender and save Australia’s bacon against Italy in 2008.
There is no one else in Australia that can turn a match as well as Cooper can, short of Will Genia.
Let’s follow this thought further.
One of the shortcomings of Deans is that he isn’t often proactive when promoting talent. He often waits for an incumbent is injured before turning to the younger, more talented option. However Cooper is one of the instances where Deans was willing to make a proactive swap.
People watching Super Rugby knew that selecting Nick Cummins would be a benefit to the Wallabies. It took around two years of injuries, including a shocking experiment with Cooper Vuna, before Deans had to select Cummins.
A few other ex-forwards on The Roar often lament at Deans inability to pick the best props in the land and balance them with good bench options and substitutions. Deans will favour the incumbent almost every single time.
Even Deans couldn’t pretend Cooper wasn’t good enough. Soon after the Italy showing he was the preferred option at 10.
This mess echoes an article I wrote earlier while the “toxic environment” comments were reverberating around as if Cooper had burnt an Australian flag and posted photos on twitter of him kissing a silver fern. I talked about how rugby management has an inability to manage high profile players.
Quade Cooper was rightly punished for his outlandish remarks made through the wrong avenue of communication. He was fined and banned.
The ban lost some of its lustre because he was injured, however that was a known factor when they determined a correct punishment. It was also reported that the fine he received was the highest in the history of the game.
In comparison we have the case of Kurtley Beale who had to settle an assault case out of court. Quade Cooper pressed send on a micro-blogging platform that echoed the sentiments of not just himself but a number of Wallabies. Keeping the lack of fine for Beale in mind while assessing Cooper’s punishment shows he’s been hit fairly hard for his admitted miss-deeds.
Moving along to the contract situation – which does play out against the backdrop of his outburst and punishment – and we see some very strange behaviour by the ARU.
Cooper has been offered a contract that is incentive based from the ARU side of the table. This is ludicrious.
Really, there are only two reasons for this sort of contract offer. Either the ARU wanted to give Cooper a reason to leave the game without actually firing him, or they want to start make incentive contracts a regular occurrence for Wallabies players.
The first reason is chicken, low and I hope for our game as a whole that isn’t the reason they negotiated that way. If the ARU doesn’t want to retain Cooper’s services they should fire him, tell the supporters of the game why and let everyone move on. It doesn’t seem logical.
I don’t see why the ARU needs to rub Cooper from the game. So I hope this tactic isn’t in play.
Cooper did some silly things, but they aren’t really more than that. He was punished fairly strongly for them as well so it should now be for the ARU to resume normal business as a management team, not some sort of mortally wounded partner.
Looking at the second reason provides more room to label the tactic as something other than low and cowardly, but doesn’t paint a pretty picture either.
Cooper has admittedly come off a long term injury that may affect his worth to the game over the long term. For that reasons a slightly revised contract would be understandable. But to break tradition with almost every other contract offered is a slight on the player.
I believe incentive payments are the way forward for the ARU to manage money well in the future. This change needs to be done with clear communication it is the way forward and with structures in place to enable the Super Rugby teams to pay players a bit more of a base salary.
Put it this way: if Cooper deserves to be only on incentive payments because of his injury then Drew Mitchell, Wycliffe Palu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Stephen Moore, Will Genia, Berrick Barnes and others all have injury problems that would put them in the same boat as Cooper. They should be on similar contracts.
If Barnes, Palu or Polota-Nau earn $1 of guaranteed money in their payments then the ARU has botched this completely.
If the reported contract offer is accurate we are left with the ARU punishing Cooper further than they decided to in their hearing and trying to flush him out of the game. And the alternative is a strange coincidence that incentive-based contracts are the way forward and that the first botched attempt at doing it with a player in his prime was Quade Cooper.
So: is the ARU the spurned girlfriend, or the bumbling accountant?
AndyS
Guest
C'mon RK, just like Julian Assange is fine because everything he stuck up on his site was the truth.....? Whistleblowers don't just go back to work. If they are lucky, they trade info for immunity and then fade away forever trailing clouds of self-righteousness. If not, things end badly.
Red Kev
Guest
You can't preach that team ethos with a former All Black coach. Sorry, but it is simply not possible.
garth
Guest
Take a look at the games the AB's played with Carlos Spencer. Many a fan had their heart in their throat as we had no idea what he would do. It's great when the opposition is bamboozled but a nightmare when his own team didn't know what he would do next. Quade Cooper is in that mould, a talented, erratic player who can fill a hole UNTIL you find someone better. Carlos, however, had the good sense not to throw his toys out of the sandpit if the coach told him off. Cooper comes across as a 'don't you know who I am? I am the Great Quade Cooper!' type of guy.
Bearfact
Guest
What I said
garth
Guest
And hard to come by these days, those who have them, guard them well.
garth
Guest
Nasser has a preference for short one year or less contracts. SBW is a prime example of this & one reason I hope he never plays for the AB's again, he would just be taking up someone else's spot. And I see a group of men who are fed up to the back teeth with the spoiled brat antics of an overpaid, erratic show-pony & his Don King wannabe agent.
AndyS
Guest
And really, that is the rub - what has since changed in the current Wallaby set-up? It was far the most damaging thing he said...he wouldn't play then, presumably still wouldn't now and the contract offered reflects that. Things might be different next year and he would hardly be left broke if he wanted to wait around to see, but no-one is going to pay him just in case. I hope he does and makes himself impossible to leave out, but even then the cloud is going to remain. The lifeblood of a national side is the idea that it is the pinnacle to be aspired to and everyone is totally committed. For a player to openly say otherwise is a massive attack on the basic principle of the team; that it is the best, against the best, all giving it their absolute best. So his position is now like someone who tells his missus he's had an affair, then later says he misspoke, didn't mean it, made it up or was just kidding. Some things, once said, will always leave a lingering mark.
hoqni
Guest
Thank you Kid from Nth Queensland. QC is exciting AND cool. Dan Carter, on the other hand, is like Dad.
Kid from Nth QUEENSLAND
Guest
G'day everyone, In regards to Quade supposedly not being a good role model I would like say this. I'm only fifteen and I have been involved with rugby for a couple of years. Over this time, Quade has visited our local club (which is around 130km from Townsville) and has visited our rugby home at the TDRU. I was even priveliged to shake his hand. He was the major factor that convinced myself and alot of my mates, to become a part of rugby. He is a great role model and was willing to talk to us all and was really passtionate about his rugby. Quade is the reason we watch super rugby every week. Not just because he is an outstanding player, but because he loves Queensland!
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
This is just another example of Khoder Nassers underlings,behaving badly .SBW in the NRL defects to union in a non professional way ,and those(union) fans saying he is entitled to go where he chooses. Now we have QC doing something along those lines. Welcome to the world of deja vu.And it äint" pretty.
BringBAckRucking
Guest
RK...is that not the point of why he is no longer wanted. As you write, " Fox Sports asked if he would play that weekend if he wasn’t injured and was selected – he said no." NO !!!. The utter arrogance of QC saying he would decline to play for his country. Good riddance we don't need or want such an attitude
Red Kev
Guest
No he did not say he did not want to play for the Wallabies again. He said he wouldn't play the next match if selected as the current Wallaby set up was essentially broken and he would not be able to play his best under it.
Red Kev
Guest
Actually he didn't state that at all. He said that he wouldn't play for the Wallabies right now in the current situation. Fox Sports asked if he would play that weekend if he wasn't injured and was selected - he said no. Most likely hyperbole but even if it wasn't it was merely a supporting argument to his central point that the current Wallaby set up is pathetic and he doesn't feel he can play his best under it. He DID NOT say he didn't want to play for the Wallabies any more.
Justin2
Guest
Kids don't give a rats azz about role models, parents who can't do their job properly and who need someone to blame do. You deny the truth when it's smacking you in the head...
Neuen
Roar Rookie
Do you consider him to be a good role model? That is what kids look for and what them to play rugby. Just ask NZ thanks to guys like Michael Jones and Umaga they have Pacific Islanders that wants to play for AB. But not many wanted to be a Mulliana due to his off field troubles.
hoqni
Guest
Ha ha, Neutral fans are now ordering Boks jerseys for 2013. It is your choice ARU.
hoqni
Guest
Really, I thought that Genia receives crisp and sweet passes 11 out of 10 times.
hoqni
Guest
Really, I thought that Genia receives crisp and sweet passes 11 out of 10 times.
AJH
Guest
Kingplaymaker, I bet some of the strong SR sides would show up some of the test sides. The problem has been that Deans is hopeless and does not select well, promotes a consevative negative style, and does not match strategy with selections. You would not pick Cooper at 10 for dull defense orientated Rugby and pair him up with the worst centre in living memory - McCabe. Gee I would hey the Reds would teach the Wallabies a lesson in Rugby. I would also think it would be interesting if the Tahs were in the same position as the Reds - whether the QC issue would have been handled differently. There is a lot that the ARU need get in order - the contract negotiations are woeful. Gee it would be refreshing to see the Wallsbies managed in the same way the Reds are. I would be confident that fans would be witnessing a Wallaby side challenging the ABs and seeing some decent attacking Rugby. We also would not be caught up in this negative crap circling the ARU and everything would be on the up.
Morgan
Guest
Brilliant comment, nothing more to say, you have captured the very essence of the situation and the moment for Quade. I too really hope he stays and works his way back into contention. Sooner or later Deans will be gone and Ewen will be coaching the Wallabies. So if Quade plays it smart and long, he can make it back. He needs to pull his head in, close his twitter account and play lots of awesome solid rugby, but as you say, he can do it. What a story Quade's career will then be.