Reports that Quade Cooper has taken a significant step towards signing with a French club at the end of this season should send shivers up the spines of all rugby fans north of the Tweed.
Granted, saying that Cooper is not everyone’s cup of tea would be a first rate contender for understatement of the year, but there can be no doubt about his value to the code in Queensland.
When announcements came that Will Genia and James Horwill were packing up after the World Cup, sighs of resignation and a glum shrug of the shoulders were about all Reds fans could muster. Neither announcement came as a shock, and there was a distinct feeling that one couldn’t begrudge these loyal servants their superannuation package.
Beneath this magnanimous generosity, though, was something far more ruthless: the cold hard fact that Reds fans knew we had seen the best of Horwill and Genia, and that we were unlikely to see them reach the heights of past glories again. This tempered the reaction to their defection, and the rugby public got on with their lives pretty quickly.
Cooper, on the other hand, is a different story. His 2011 Super Rugby season was one of the greatest by any Australian player in the history of the competition, as he not only played a major role in Queensland ending their title drought, but almost single handedly helped the Reds average a better home crowd than the mighty Broncos, and made the Reds the most talked about football team in this league-mad state.
After helping the Wallabies to a Rugby Championship title, things went horribly off the rails for Cooper and the Wallabies at the World Cup. After a torturous campaign in New Zealand, Cooper ignited Australia’s best performance of the tournament in the bronze medal playoff against Wales, only to suffer a major knee injury after only 20 minutes.
The next four years would bring as many injuries as highlights for Cooper, and herein lies the frustration for rugby fans. For all of the horrible moments when we have cursed his impetuous nature or poor decision making – and there have been plenty – there is no doubt that Cooper has shown signs of improvement. One could even entertain the tantalising suggestion that we have yet to see the best of him.
His performances for the Wallabies at the end of 2013 showcased a playmaker who was learning to manage a Test, while not completely losing the flair that gave him an important point of difference. The fact that injuries have prevented him from putting full seasons back-to-back in this period means we still don’t really know how good he is, or could be.
This positive trajectory in performance, despite the obstacles, illustrates precisely why Queensland needs to fight to keep him in red, while happily wishing his two partners in crime all the best for the future.
It is beyond rebuke that many rugby fans will be happy to see the back of Cooper, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that they are on solid ground in wishing him a speedy farewell. I would argue, however, that he is now more valuable to Queensland rugby than ever before.
At 27, there is still time for him to aim for the 2019 World Cup, allowing himself the overseas sojourn at 31. Queensland needs some kind of foundation upon which to rebuild, and Cooper, Liam Gill and James Slipper should form this base. Losing his experience from the backline next year would sentence the Reds to an indefinite place in Super Rugby’s cellar.
The challenge for Cooper now is to write his own history. How does he want to be remembered? As a divisive, frustrating character who was undoubtedly talented but didn’t produce enough to be listed amongst the greats?
I would challenge Cooper to be the man who stayed to rebuild the Reds into a team worthy of that great jersey, a man who overcame his struggles to reinvent his game and lead the next generation back to the top.
If nothing else, Cooper should stay to prove to himself just how good he can be. If he leaves our shores now, we, and more importantly he, will never know.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
2014
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
+1
Squirrel
Roar Rookie
RWC 2011
Westie
Guest
Utter bs
Westie
Guest
He'll go better without Genia, his form demise has been legendary
Shane D
Roar Rookie
if he can't cope with the physicality of Super Rugby he is not going to go well in Top 14. The game maybe slower there but it's probably more physical.
Roberts
Guest
I completely agree, until the management admits they made a terrible decision appointing RG as coach then they will have no credibility and fans will continue to walk out the door. The latest promotion to buy extra merchandise made me sick, they are so out of touch its not funny. Cooper is brilliant and mercurial as much as he is shockingly woeful and terrible, but thats why people go to see him. The whole country of NZ wouldnt hold such vitriol towards one player if he wasnt so important, he would have been ignored. I wish he would stay but i dont think he will. He needs to prove himself the best no. 10 in the country, not against the soft French league. Get back into form, get to the world cup and provide us with some brilliance and disaster! The reds need him more than he needs the reds but i hope he stays for the sake of 30000 members!
Trent Marshall
Guest
Quadey would look out of place, just like O'connor was. Toulon need to purchase world class players to continue their dominance. Can't go from Wilkinson to Quade Cooper, good grief.
ols
Roar Pro
Let's see. He's tried twice to put big shoulder shots on people this year and both times he's busted shoulder/collarbone. Don't you think he might be a bit tackle shy when/if he comes back. Some would argue he always has been. He'll be off to France to make some money and not have to cope with the physicality of Super Rugby
Tissot Time
Guest
Deans name doing the rounds in AKL rugby circles.
Dan
Guest
This rests on the presumption that Cooper can control his legacy - and a legacy would come ultimately not through the Reds but the Wallabies. In that case, Cheika prefers Foley even though Cooper is a far more dynamic player; dynamism requires the support of a like minded coach but coaches generally revert to safety rather than attack and innovation. Overall, Cooper's chances of fulfilling his potential with the Wallabies are limited, so he would be very foolish to turn down a bag of gold for a handful of dust.
Squirrel
Roar Rookie
When going gets tough qc drops his bundle and runs
Who?
Guest
+1,000,000. Honestly, I'm amazed ANYONE - let alone a player of the stature of Adam Thomson - signed with the Reds for this year. Or last year. Graham's a dud, and most intelligent people knew that three years ago, before the Reds signed him. I want Quade to stay. I don't think we can win with him, but I can't see anything but a decade of failure without him. Along with Gill and Slipper, and key shorter-term signings like Thomson (short term purely because he's a bit older, and won't be around as long as the other three). But no one will sign without the new coach being announced soon. The QRU need to get their heads out of the sand, admit their playing group and coaching group failings of the past 3 years, and take decisive, positive, public action. The giveaways they're trying to induce people to buy kit and get people along to games aren't going to work. Why be involved with something so self-important that it doesn't care about its supporter base? Because, in all honesty, that's how the appointment of Graham looked, and how his retention in spite of a rapid fall in performance over the past three years looks. He started with a champion team and killed them. In spite of not losing that many players in the first couple of seasons. Yes, it can be argued that Link was there for the first of those three years (2013), but we all know that he was already halfway out the door, his key assistants didn't stick around, and they only really played a Link style game (one that was keyed into attacking through their own strengths and finding their opponents weaknesses) in the Lions game, which was the best style of Rugby played on the tour (one can only wonder how they'd have gone if they'd had their Wallabies - the contrast with the excellent Brumbies win on that tour being that the Brumbies had key players who hadn't yet been capped - such as the brilliant Tevita Kuridrani, whose brilliant try is only tainted by the low quality of the only footage available showing it).
Comrade Bear
Roar Rookie
I'd renew my season Tickets if Brad Thorn were coach.
Robin
Guest
Let him go, no great loss. The Reds may be struggling, but where is his pride in sticking with his team and helping them get back to winning ways.
Red Kev
Roar Guru
Brad Thorn
Hoy
Roar Guru
I am praying like hell he stays, but have really resigned myself to standard rugby without him for a few years... Shame, because when he is on, the game is a lot more exciting... Which is what we all want... isn't it? That and the good wins... but the Reds have more chance of the later when he is providing the former.
Cam Stokes
Roar Pro
The thrust of the article was actually that Cooper needs the Reds as much as they need him... Certainly not financially, but if he wants to create any kind of legacy that will be worth trading on post-retirement, he should stay...
Comrade Bear
Roar Rookie
I have heard Pat Howard and the usual Knuckles calls - Nic Styles mentioned as an interim coach - but not of Deans. RG has set a *very* low bar - so its a given we'll do better - win at least 2 games - but is Deans the guy to get the Reds back into the top 6?
Comrade Bear
Roar Rookie
Clearly not the case - but he's been a diabolical coach.