The end of Quade Cooper?

Right, just saw this on Planet Rugby, "Cooper hints at end of Test career"

Wallabies pivot Quade Cooper has revealed that he will not play for Australia in the current environment which he says is 'destroying' him.

The 24-year-old, talking to Fox Sports program, The Rugby Club, explained his recent criticism on social media website Twitter of the Wallaby set-up and was clearly disappointed with the tactics employed by current coach Robbie Deans.

"I'm just striving to be the best that I can be and that's why I said (in reference to his Twitter comments) I didn't want to be involved in that kind of environment," he said.

"For me to continue to improve as a player and as a person you want to be in the best possible environment.

"And I feel that that environment is destroying me as a person and as a player, so that I can't do the best that I can do to represent my country and my family and my friends, to the best of my ability."

Cooper is currently out of action due to a knee injury but said if he was fit and selected he would not play for Australia in the future.

"No (I would not play), like I said, it's the environment there at the moment," he said.

"(The environment) 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."

Cooper - who said his comments were not a personal attack on Deans - insisted that money was not the reason for his attack and that he would continue to honour his existing three-year contract with the Reds.

"Money has nothing to do with it," he explained.

"I've got a contract with the Reds that I'm happy with and I signed that a long time ago"

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_8114113,00.html

Would be very frustrating to see a talented player like Quade never reach his full potential. Shame he may have ruined his career. Also does this mean that Giteau might be back in with a shout, with Australia's lack of stand offs?
Thoughts everyone?

I was very suprised to hear Cooper say that the enviroment in the Aussie camp is not good at the moment.

I thought at first that is rant was about him being injured at the moment, but when he said that the enviroment is not very good with Robie Deans as head coach.

Is Cooper finding the training to tough to handle?

Or is he simply fed up of International rugby?

It is easy being topdog in a winning team,OZ side has so many players missing it`s ridiculous.Deans is under fire,suddenly Ewan Mackenzie arrives on his white horse.Then Oz will rule the World again?get real it has been a struggle to put out a full team for them this year.Cooper is a very talented player,but like others capable of stupid blunders.The Toxic Atmosphere is created by his agent,he wants to play League with SBW fine?2014 SBW will be back in Union probably with the Chiefs.Trying to be the starting 12 in RWC for the AB`s

It seems fairly clear that he is a bit of a meat axe.

Yeah immediately after the oz ab match the only one cooper was talking to was sbw. Coopers dreaming if he thinks he`s going to be successful in the nrl. He's a known weak...shy is the better word...tackler so opposites will target him, putting his team mates under presure to cover him.

One of those who wants to do all The fancy tricks but not the hard work.

And it's this shyness of the tackle that teams exploit which has made him look a little bit ordinary, and has been the case since the WC. I dont think deans' game plan prohibits 'all' running with the ball so there's no excuse for him looking more berrick-like than berrick. Delusions of grandeur has crept in, does he honestly think the average oz punter will sympathise with him, seriously!? Stupid kiwi idiot.

ebop wrote: Stupid kiwi idiot.

About sums it up. And why is there only one player voicing this opinion. I'm not a Deans fan but their respective track records- one with a delusion of granduer, the other about as grounded as one could possibly be- do suggest cooper is clutching at straws, walking on thin ice and other fitting cliches...

Anyone else think that Kurtley Beal will make that 10 spot his own soon anyway...thats his favorite position isnt it...

I do think Deans will have to go, he's obv not creating the right atmosphere off the pitch and the results on the pitch just aren't happening either. Not sure if there's any coach out there who could change things round though.

Geordie, Beale did look good at 10 in SuperRugby but he's been horribly off form as well. Mat Giteau's been playing very well in France though...

There seems to be a lot of contradiction regarding this.

Quade says he followed the channels to discuss his issus with the ARU, but John O'Neill says is isn't true.

It sounds as if some players are to afraid to speak up as they don't want to lose their spot.

It also seems as if Deans has his favourites and some don't like it, but what coach does not have favourites?

It does hoewever sound like Cooper has an attitude problem that comes from a long way back. He can blame as many people as he want, but at the end of the day his perfomances has not been up to par compared to last year.

nganboy wrote:It seems fairly clear that he is a bit of a meat axe.

True, yet Barry John did the same and people still think the sun shine out of him.

The most shocking thing about that article is that he's only 24, ye gods the man looks in his 40s! Did he have a paper round in Beirut or something?

Looks like he has completely imploded.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10837202

Typically, he is now blaming everyone other than himself.

can an aussie enlighten me on this.....is this sour grapes because he is out of favour or is he justified in his tantrum?

what is it about modern players that some of them seem so wrapped up in their egos and self promotion that they lose sight of what representing a nation means i.e. something bigger than them as an individual.

The 10 matchups are very exciting for both matches...Carter vs Hernandez and Beale vs Goosen. Doesnt get much better than that for these sides...

mowgli wrote:can an aussie enlighten me on this.....is this sour grapes because he is out of favour or is he justified in his tantrum?

what is it about modern players that some of them seem so wrapped up in their egos and self promotion that they lose sight of what representing a nation means i.e. something bigger than them as an individual.

Probably both I'd say.

He is definitely frustrated that his 'inputs' (i.e. more high-risk, attacking style of play) have been ignored to a large degree so that is the sour grapes part of it. He finds it hard to play defensively as we all know which is a major, major flaw.

Also, he's simply not a consistent enough to claim he is the match winner he thinks he is. If anything, he makes it even harder for his team mates with his regular poor decision making and execution. He's living in cloud cuckoo land. He's been given plenty of chances and has failed.

Deans is not going to stick up for him (like he didn't in Auckland with that disgusting behaviour from some of the locals during the RWC) and it's obvious that Cooper is now well and truly on his own so to speak.

I would like to see both O'Neill and QC put out to pasture. Both are toxic and living under delusions of grandeur. It would also solve two festering, niggly problems and let the team move forward a bit more than they are at the moment.

The subplot seems to be a band wagon to dump Deans and instal Ewen Mackenzie.IF you look at Deans record overall he has had Australia at IRB number 2 or 3 side consistently for most of his tenure.No small feat when you are jousting every year with the best two sides in the world by record.Especially as there is no similar grassroots system as there is for the other two.
Cooper is talented in the way Carlos Spencer was when it seems he was two moves ahead of the game.But his team mates wer`nt on the same wavelength in a recent match.Cooper did a neat chip kick to the corner,it went straight into touch.Commentators said what a waste of possession BUT if the guy it was intended for had run on to it and scored.?Good idea poor execution.
No one likes losing,to be without virtually your whole starting 15 makes it hard for the coach.
Hansen has made comments about Nonu and Adam Thomson on the lines IF they are abroad next year.They can forget about the Autumn Internationals,Nonu with 70 caps is rated best 12 in the game .Thomson was a permanent fixture in the squad.Nonu has a point NZ are never satisfied they have a Green team but are still winning.Because they arn`t running in tries from every where its wrong the players can`t win.As to Thomson talk about hypocrisy he has been consistently o n fire in the S15s.NEVER let any one down in a Black shirt.Then is given no game time by his coach when inferior players are started instead.Loyalty cuts both ways if you don`t give the man a chance how can he prove himself.One of the problems in the modern game is over coaching.McCaw once on the field runs the show ignoring the coaches some times.BUT he gets things right most of the time,slaveishly following orders means you miss oppertunities to score.Australia in particular recently have taken the wrong options.Which have cost them matches at least a half a dozen recently with a consistent goal kicker is a case in point.

I know you're a fan of Thomson Alan but whilst he has given his all for the ABs and has found the cruel side of not being favoured, in his games for the ABs he has never stood out like he has for the Highlanders.

AB fans are notoriously impatient and have too high expectations but I for one don't want NZ to score tries from everywhere. That's not realistic. I do want to see us try though to get dominance up front and use the pick and drive as an attacking weapon. I do want to see us able to string phases together and not cough up the ball or have an error give away possession. I don't think that's unrealistic. I don't care if we don't get a 4 try bonus. I do care that we don't seem to be able to click.

That said we are winning. When you're losing and with so many injuries it's hard to keep your head up. Cooper like Spencer is a confidence player. Like any player really but probably more so. When his game is on he's brilliant. When the chips are down and the forwards are going backwards, he's not your man to rally the troops and do something special. He is the type of player that adds to your problems rather than turning round your fotrunes.

And yes I agree LB. Many of those Kiwis would use Cooper's cheap shots on McCaw as justification of their behaviour but truth be told when they act like that they show an ugly insecure side that comes out when a team threatens the aura of the ABs. It's ugly and shouldn't happen.

Quade's problems may be over....the end of Deans more likely now

mowgli wrote:Quade's problems may be over....the end of Deans more likely now

Also looks like that to me, but I don't think they should use today as an excuse to fire Deans. That was just a long stretch of bad luck. Almost after every play someone looked injured.