Wallabies first-five Quade Cooper said he would not play for Australia unless changes were made to the "toxic" environment surrounding the team, which he felt was "destroying" him as a "player and as a person".
The 24-year-old has been sidelined for Australia's last two Rugby Championship tests in South Africa and Argentina because of a knee problem but sparked huge controversy with tweets and comments made over the weekend.
Offered the chance to clarify his position on Thursday in an interview with Fox Sports, with whom he has a contract, Cooper said he would not play for Australia or sign a new deal with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) unless improvements were made.
When asked if he would play for the Wallabies if he was picked in the side, Cooper said he would not.
"No, like I said, it's the environment there at the moment is one that I don't feel comfortable in and if I don't feel comfortable and if I don't feel that I can give 100 per cent for my country and that yellow jersey, that's a very big problem," he said.
"For me to improve as a player and as a person, you want to be in the best possible environment. I feel that environment is destroying me as a person and as a player so I can't do my best to represent myself, my country and my friends to the best of my ability."
Whether the Wallabies' environment is what's destroying Cooper "as a person and as a player" is open to debate. But as we suggested earlier in the week, we reckon that his management has a bit to do with it as well; her certainly seems to be suffering from a bout of the Khoder Nasser Effect.
Quade Cooper needs to remember the old motivational maxim that there's no "I" in team. He certainly seems to be determined to burn his bridges with the ARU, because contrary to what his manager is probably telling him, he's NOT bigger than the game of rugby.
Quade Cooper's publicly-aired discontent has been (in our ever-humble opinion) ill-advised and poorly executed. It seems highly likely that Cooper is about to find out that the game is a whole lot bigger than him and his manager, and that there will be no "Quade" in team either; for some time to come.
3 comments:
Has he followed SBW lead and converted to Islam yet?
It won't be long before he wants to box and bang his head 5 times a day.
Oh and command but not necessarily get big money.
Without being overly nasty Lofty, I'd suggest that Cooper has already taken a few blows too many to the melon.
Cooper is showing just why he is unfit for international rugby. His comments indicate the lack of character, on and off the field, that is essential in the cauldron of test rugby.
He is prone to self-preserving brain fades. He was brilliant when the Reds won but super rugby is not test rugby. You don't have the same room to move in test rugby.
He hates pressure and confined spaces. He can dish it out from a distance (cheap shots on McCaw and ARU) but when it is close up and personal he will shy off the tackle, throw the ball away and go to pieces -- exactly what he is doing with his public comments.
He is fast assuming the mantle of Aussie's drama queen. His self-alignment with SBW shows that his ego is is taking precedence.
SBW has his faults (most notably his choice of manager) but he does the hard yards. Cooper wants it on a platter.
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