Cooper's French offer on hold

[travelling_gerry]

Cooper's French offer on hold

• From: The Australian
• March 20, 2010 12:00AM

WALLABIES and Queensland Reds playmaker Quade Cooper has received a lucrative offer from a leading French club, but he cannot make a decision on his future until the ARU provides him with an indication of the value of his contract renewal.

It is understood the ARU has told Cooper it will not make an offer for a top-up to his Super 14 contract until his court case on a burglary charge is heard on July 2.
But the French need an answer from Cooper within the next 10 days and club officials will meet with him in South Africa next week.
If the French club withdraws its offer, Cooper will probably be left with only one option if he is forced to wait until July before he knows what the ARU is prepared to pay.
Arguably the form five-eighth not just in Australia, but in the whole Super 14, Cooper is in a strong position to command a decent top-up from the ARU, especially as he has outplayed All Black five-eights Dan Carter (Crusaders) and Stephen Donald (Chiefs) this season.

The ARU probably thinks Cooper is bluffing and that his priority will be to play for the Wallabies in the World Cup in New Zealand next year. But at 21, Cooper is young enough to play in another two World Cups.
If Cooper was seriously looking at playing in France, now would be a good time to go because of increasing restrictions on foreign players in the best French competition, the Top 14.
After next year's World Cup, Cooper would also potentially compete with more experienced five-eighths such as Carter, Matt Giteau and Berrick Barnes for high-paying jobs in Europe.
If Cooper remains in Australia, he would then have to decide whether to stay with the Reds or join his close friends James O'Connor and David Pocock at the Western Force.
There is speculation that if Cooper joined the Force, Reds and Wallabies winger Peter Hynes may follow him to Perth if he decides to stay in Australia.
Pocock, who rejected an offer from the Melbourne Rebels, is set to recommit to the Force, pending the outcome of his renegotiations with the ARU and receiving an assurance that the Perth-based side will be competitive.
The Force has made an offer to Japan-based former Wallabies utility back Mark Gerrard, who is also being chased by the Rebels.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225843025457

[zimeric]

Mark Gerrard??
geez that came left field

[normie]

Sounds like they'll be queueing up to join!

[shasta]

The ARU could quite easily make a an offer to Cooper conditional on his court outcome. They won't. As we have seen before, they are quite willing to obstruct the players/franchises during contract talks in an effort to limit ARU payments. Just business I suppose, but a better way forward needs to be found. That won't happen any time soon. I suspect NSW and ACT are quite happy with the status quo.