Genia, Cooper is thriving once again.
There is a buzz about the way the
franchise play the game and the 70-cap
ten is clearly enjoying himself out there.
Before his club rugby stint, he says he
“mapped out” his return to the top. Then
the playmaker embarked on a six-week,
intensive training regime with friend
Sonny Bill Williams, in New Zealand.
When playing for Souths, he tried to
treat every single game “with the
importance of a World Cup final”.
According to Cooper, he also learnt a
lot about his game playing at that level.
He explains: “During that year in club
football, I played a game with the
Barbarians against the Wallabies and I
had the opportunity to be coached
by Alan Jones. I spent a lot of time
talking to him about the game. He
really changed the way I saw the
game and I had the opportunity to
take that and try that out in club
rugby, away from prying eyes.
“I feel like I’ve become a better
player. People might contest that,
but when we won (Super Rugby
with the Reds) in 2011, what I did
back then was by luck, by chance.
Me and Will were having this
conversation recently. When we
were on the field, everything just
seemed to be happening and we
were just doing what we thought
was right. Now we’re actually able
to understand what we were doing.
“There was a moment I had with
an old coach, Jim McKay. In the
semi-final against the Crusaders in
2013, we were getting smashed in
Christchurch. I came off the field at
half-time and we had this conversation.
I said, ‘Mate, I literally don’t know what
to do out there. We’re running against
brick walls, there’s just no answer.’ He
said pretty much the same thing.
“Then during my season with Souths
I remember having this thought and
giving him a call right away. I said, ‘Mate,
I worked it out!’ Obviously it was too
late, but I’d worked out exactly what we
needed to do in that
game. Not because
we can go back in
time and change it,
but because now Isee the game I have answers, whereas
back then I was stumped. That’s what
I mean when I say I’ve evolved; I have
some answers I never used to have.”
In the first line of LL Cool J’s Mama
Said Knock You Out, there’s the line:
“Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here
for years...” For Cooper, he never felt
like he went anywhere in his time down
the grades, it’s just that few got the
chance to watch him. Now all eyes are
on him. And his buddy at nine, Genia.
The bond is clearly strong with the pair.
“When you talk about myself and Will,
you’ve got two of the most competitive
players, probably in the world!” Cooper
says. “It’s one of the reasons we work
so well together.
We always push
each other on the
training paddock
and in the games.
Sometimes when
things get a little bit
tough, you might
not see it but me
and him can get
into some heated
discussions. But we
always come out on
the right end. That’s
that competitive
nature coming out.”
Cooper has been
asked many times
about his World Cup ambitions. He
jokes that we probably know more
about the current Wallaby set-up than
him, having not been capped since- Yet if he graces the fields of Japan,
what a comeback that would be. n
“I feel I’ve become a better player.
Now I see the game and have some
answers that I never used to have”
Fist pump
Celebrating
a Rebels try...and against
Facing them with
the BarbariansFor...
Representing
the WallabiesDID YOU
KNOW?
Cruiserweight Cooper
has been in three
pro boxing matches
and won all of them.
In total he has only
fought in seven
rounds. He won his
first fight back in 2013
by knockout, and his
last two – in 2014 and
2017 – were won by
TKO. In his time off,
Cooper trained with
Sonny Bill Williams,
who has won all
seven of his bouts.