League pioneer's dream: To live to the next World Cup

One of the most important people in international rugby league will be almost 20,000 kilometres away when the World Cup quarter-finals begin this week, fighting a battle well outside the spotlight.

He wouldn’t consider himself a hero of the sport, but Simon Cooper’s story deserves to be told.

We all know a person who has sacrificed everything to keep a team, a club or an entire sport alive in the face of adversity – and Cooper embodies that selfless devotion as well as anybody.

The added difference being that, while he continues to devote time to keeping rugby league afloat in western Europe’s most populous nation, Germany, he is simultaneously facing an ongoing battle to save his own life.

“Most people with multiple myeloma do not live more than five years with the disease, although there are more cases nowadays of people living ten or 15 years with it,” says Cooper, who was diagnosed last November at the age of 43.

“It’s a blood cancer that is not curable, though it can be treated with medication.

“It’s also very individualistic in that it affects people in different ways, ranging from the severe bone damage that I mainly have through to attacks on internal organs like the liver and kidneys.

“When I was first diagnosed I cried and thought I was going to die very soon… That I would never see my then-one-year-old daughter Lottie walk or talk.”

Cooper has already had four fractures of his spine due to the cancer attacking his bones. He lost 20kg in a matter of months after his condition was recognised.

He has spent time in a wheelchair, received stem cell treatment, lost his hair and found it almost impossible to consume food at times.

But on the flipside, he has lived to see his daughter achieve the milestones he anticipated, and been able to spend invaluable quality time with wife, Katharina.

Simon Cooper and Katharina

The son of a Hamburg-born father and grandson of a Luftwaffe serviceman who died in the air over France, Cooper has been involved with pioneering German Rugby League since 2004.

Despite his health battle, the former president remains involved as vice-president and joint national squad trainer.

As such, his spirits have been lifted by being able to watch a 2017 Rugby League World Cup in which several minnow nations have delivered breakthrough performances.

“It has been brilliant for me and German Rugby League because the games are being shown here free on TV and live online,” Cooper says.

“The commentator has been promoting Germany’s recent success against the Wales Dragonhearts (Welsh amateur domestic representative team) and telling people how they can contact us.

“That in itself has been a massive plus, and the way Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea have played have been real highlights too.

“The World Cup opens the game up to new markets and gives people across the world the chance to see rugby league for the first time.

“It’s something special; a festival of our sport.”

Unbelievably, while former backrower Cooper goes through the ringer with a body that doesn’t respond the way it used to, he still faces occasional skirmishes from some within the rugby union ranks.

Germany, like many emerging rugby league nations, has to contend with stern opposition at times during its formative years.

“I can remember Germany played Serbia in 2007 and an official from German Rugby Union burst into the changing rooms and threatened certain players that they would have problems if they ever wanted to represent in that code again,” Cooper reveals.

“A representative from the Rugby League European Federation wrote to German Rugby Union about the incident and received a response that basically told him to mind his own business.

“There have been a few threats and obstacles along the way and various incidents, but thankfully many union people are more open now and they work with us and have been very helpful in growing the game in Germany.

“We still face the odd hostility, but I think things are better than ten years ago.”

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Cooper resists the temptation to predict grandiose things ahead for rugby league in his home nation, saying that even with heritage players, the nation would still find it incredibly difficult to compete at future World Cups.

He points to rugby union being played in the nation for 120 years and investing millions of dollars, but still lacking any great slice of recognition.

Instead, his firm focus is on strengthening the domestic competition, Rugby League Deutschland, aiming to have a minimum six clubs playing regularly by 2021.

Just as importantly, the end of 2021 would represent six years since his diagnosis, and to survive that long would mean he has exceeded normal expectations.

At present he is walking without issue, can direct training sessions and is feeling much more upbeat than 12 months ago.

Yet he lives without illusions.

“I will face some very hard times in the future,” he says bluntly.

“At some time in the future, the cancer will come back in an aggressive form.

“Thankfully, Germany is a leader in the fight against myeloma cancer, plenty of research is going on and new medications are regularly coming out.

“I live very much day-to-day and try and enjoy and make the most of the better times while I can, such as spending time with Katharina and Lottie.

“Being back involved in helping the development of the game in Germany is another positive and the support from everybody has helped me a lot.

“When you’re in a dark place, the comments and messages really do help and give you strength.”