Unhappy Wallaby: Quade Cooper
Related links
Teams
Also see
Frustrated Reds fly-half Quade Cooper's future in Rugby Union seems uncertain after another thinly-veiled attack on Wallabies coach Robbie Deans' tactics and the Australian Rugby Union.
Just days after telling AAP that the Wallabies will continue to lose fans and Bledisloe Cup Tests if they play to a boring, conservative style, Cooper used his Twitter account to vent about problems behind the scenes.
38-Test playmaker - who is currently sidelined with a knee injury but was reportedly involved in a minor car accident with fellow Wallabies Kurtley Beale and Digby Ioane at 2am on Thursday, just hours before Beale and Ioane were scheduled to fly to South Africa - also suggested he wants to join good friend Sonny Bill Williams in the NRL.
His latest complaints come at a delicate time in contract negotiations with the ARU and he may have overstepped the mark, as he subsequently removed two of his Twitter posts.
In June Cooper signed a three-year contract to remain with the Reds but it has yet to be ratified as his ARU component hasn't been finalised, promoting suggestions he may switch to League.
"Might (sic) thoughts on rugby now is who's playing ... my thoughts on other codes how the f--- do we get tickets !!" read one deleted Tweet.
"I love rugby but there's s--t going on behind and above the players the effects the whole organisation! Happens at the reds few years back," said another, referring to problems at the QRU that preceded an administrative and coaching cleanout.
When a follower told Cooper he should be given more freedom to play exciting rugby, the fly-half responded with a broadside at Deans' tactics.
"I am allowed from February to May sir," Cooper wrote, in reference to Super Rugby under Reds coach Ewen McKenzie.
Asked by another follower if he would play for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the 2013 NRL competition, Cooper replied: "No but I want to play with @SonnyBWilliams".
Cooper revealed he would spend some time with close friend Williams, who is set to play for Sydney Roosters next season, in Japan in the coming weeks.
"I know we're competing against a lot of other sports in this country," Cooper said last week.
"If people want to go out there and play a boring brand of football then there's other guys they can pick to do that.
"I'd much rather go down swinging and throwing the punches to put yourself in a winning position than come out saying we kept it close."
Cooper insisted in an interview on Sunday that his comments were not a direct attack on Deans, but rather the result of his frustration with the entire Wallaby set-up at the moment.
"There's a lot of people who are afraid to say what they feel so they just go along with it and nothing is going to change," he told AAP.
"That's why I feel so strongly as a player. I don't want to be involved in the toxic environment, and that's how it is at the moment.
"It's an environment where things aren't going according to plan and everyone is looking to point the finger," he explained.
"All I want to do is fix the problems and get on with it and win rugby games," the 24-year-old said.
"I'm very respectful to Robbie and I'm very thankful to Robbie as well for giving me the opportunity that he has.
"But for me it's about bettering myself and bettering the country and I'm just sick of losing to the All Blacks. I hate losing," he said.
Cooper added that having confidence in the Wallabies' plans is crucial if he is going to make a serious commitment to staying in Union.
"I don't want to come across as a mercenary but I feel very strongly about how this is run because I'm part of it and I want to succeed," he said.
"There would have to be big things to take me away from the game but at the same time I don't want to be a pawn in things that aren't moving forward," he said.
Comments
new_j4a says...
@jonesey2.....What? And you do know something about rugby??? Here's a previous post just to refresh our collective memories:
jonesey2 says this about Scotland vs. Oz: "anyone failing to recognise the probability that scotland are going to concede a crazy amount of tries are just being completely dilusional. im not saying that its impossible for scotland to win but predicting an upset is just pathetic because its only done out of spite and so easy to turn around and claim that australia should have won all along if the wallabies get up. all you claim you think scotland can win, go down to the TAB and put half your latest or next pay check on that result then....... whats that? thought so. "
Posted 11:09 28th September 2012
jonesy2 says...
the irony of the fact that most posters on here have no idea of the situation or rugby in general for that matter
Posted 05:52 28th September 2012
APV1 says...
"Cooper was dropping Ioane and Beale off at the Brisbane airport for their flight to SA. Reversed out of the driveway (in the dark) into another car, bumb !"
Thankfully spatial awareness and good vision are not necessary as an international Fly Half.
(And why aren't they travelling as a team? Surely they should make their way to the Team HQ - I appreciate that they live apart from each other, all over OZ - and then travel to SA, or where-ever, together. That's what my club does for away matches and tours.)
Posted 11:49 26th September 2012
cuw3100 says...
@ Trinats2 :"...Cooper was dropping Ioane and Beale off at the Brisbane airport for their flight to SA. Reversed out of the driveway (in the dark) into another car,..."
LOL mate , isn't it just like Cooper's on field performance; usually on the reverse :)
Posted 04:29 25th September 2012
passtheball says...
His comments are on a par with his driving.
Posted 01:08 25th September 2012
Trader2 says...
Now this could be my incorrect interpretation but did Trinats just say he didn't want SBW to go to league because he is such a talent? Is this the same Trinats who has abused SBW all season...? Or is it that now Quackey is such a good mate of SBW then SBW has suddenly gone up in Trinats2 estimation?
Oh not sure where the details re the car accident come from, I cannot verify Trinats version of events but if correct then Quackey should buy a car with reverse lights, you know so you can see when reversing at night, then maybe there would be no bumb's (sic) in the night.
So who plays 10 for the Red's next year - a Kiwi I suppose
Posted 15:23 24th September 2012
startledwombat says...
I've been wondering about the intelligence of the Wallaby backline ever since Berrick Barnes made a grubber kick 17 seconds into a test match where Deans had said "grubber kicks aren't part of the game plan."
Seems as though Barnes is the genius in the backline, relatively speaking.
Posted 13:03 24th September 2012
D4tress says...
He's the new Gavin Henson. Plenty of talent, but he's just getting ahead of himself. Red won the S14, the press had a field day on "Super Cooper" and he started to believe the hype.
It's pretty common, but it's hard to bounce back from. Henson, Cipriani, Cooper... see you in Toulon in a few seasons, chap!
Posted 11:50 24th September 2012
cuw3100 says...
Actually Coop may do better in the League format, due to its structure, compared to Union which is less structured. Also in RL its anything goes tackles except head shots ( no need for full arm tackles). In addition usually at least there is one cover tackler, most of the time. Kicks in game are straightforward too.
IMHO according to my very limited knowledge of both RU & RL it may be easy to go from Union to League than the other way around. Brad Thorn and Jason rob did it so am sure Coop will too.
After all, when everyone forgets all the hate and dislike and nonsense, he is agood player, withcertain limitations to his game. However looking at history, that has never stopped many International Players from making a name for themselves :)
Posted 11:35 24th September 2012
olepete says...
I guess quite a few people are sick of getting beaten by the ABs. Get over it Coop, you've got some time to reflect on things.
Posted 11:21 24th September 2012
porridge_time says...
This guy really needs to learn how to conduct himself properly on and off the field.
Posted 11:16 24th September 2012
Tamjon says...
Idjit
Posted 09:50 24th September 2012
metalboru says...
If he was playing better none of this would come out. It's up to him - Deans doesn't tell him to chip-kick or get charged down. He has the ability to be a great of the modern game. At the moment he lacks the clear head and sense of perspective.
Posted 09:46 24th September 2012
KiwiLad says...
Is it just me, or are the lunatics in charge of the sylum???
If we listen to the drivel of the Quade Coopers, the Gavin Hensons and PDVs of this world, we will all end up in strait Jackets!!
This looney is now a disgrace to his old and new countries!!!
Posted 08:35 24th September 2012
sandal says...
Oh dear. What a shame.
I can understand his frustration but he is a fool to be saying such things publicly. In time a lot of young players will regret ever having opened a twitter account. One ill-considered moment of anger doesn't pass privately; it is out there for all to see.
If he does leave the game I will be sad. He has brought something unique and often magical to it, whatever the jeering fans say. Most of the jeers about his play come from Britain, but all the thrills of British rugby in the past couple of years don't measure up to what Cooper has produced. Would any of the nations from the British Isles, in that vastly different universe in which they produced such a player, ever have selected him?
I don't like Cooper as a person -- his sneaky acts of thuggery against McCaw have been shameful -- but, unlike some here, I can see that we will miss him when he is gone.
Posted 08:18 24th September 2012
Trinats2 says...
I don't want him to go to league, just as I didn't want to see Sonny Williams go to league. For years we have lost very good talent to league.
There is truth in what he is saying, but Cooper needs to keep his mouth (twitter) shut though. Having a go at Dean's game plan will end any chance of a call up (just look at Giteau) We all know Deans is not the coach for the Wallabies and the sooner the better we get rid of him. Hopefully before Cooper decides to jump codes.
As for the 2am prang, it's amazing what people read into. Cooper was dropping Ioane and Beale off at the Brisbane airport for their flight to SA. Reversed out of the driveway (in the dark) into another car, bumb !
Posted 07:48 24th September 2012
Waz4before says...
@BillyMutt2 .. I doubt its better for everyone if he leaves. certainly not the Reds and certainly not Rugby Union in Oz - as for Dean's he's doing a poor job and hiding behind excuses, there are enough talented players in Australia to be playing a better game than just scraping past wales and Argentina and capitulating to the Kiwi's
Posted 05:42 24th September 2012
dropkick says...
Can't kick, can't pass and now can't run, however sure can twit. I'm sure that walking X factor Khoder Nasser is right now putting the finishing touches to McQuade's next major step in the Japanese or Indonesian leagues - contract states good ol - Qualude will pull a hammy midway thru the second half of game one, sit out no less than half the season modelling some horrific line of puffer jackets and sipping on a fluro sports drink whilst wearing a dashing new line of Korean wristwatches. Then come back, stink out the place and wander off laughing with six figures. I'm sure he will as much of an arsett for them as he has been for the Reds and the Wallabies.
You'd think the Aussies would have worked it out by now... three years of Dingo Deans and Kiwi Kwade and where are you?? Think about it. However as an ABs fan I remain pretty keen to see how this one plays out.
Posted 05:32 24th September 2012
didikriel says...
Cooper was a flash in the pan from the outset. Players like him only need to be worked out by opposition which takes a season or two and then their time is up. He suits league better in any case (his personality that is), union won¿t miss him.
Posted 05:02 24th September 2012
JayStarr says...
Let Cooper go if he wants to... His attitude and ego will suit league. O'Connor is a far better 10 anyway.
Posted 04:38 24th September 2012