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Quade Cooper will join the Parramatta Eels after Rugby World Cup
* Riccio
* From: The Sunday Telegraph
* September 12, 2010 12:01AM
A PHONE call to Quade Cooper on Friday has left Parramatta chief executive Paul Osborne convinced the Wallabies star will soon be wearing the blue and gold Eels jumper.
Just 24 hours after Cooper went public with his decision to stick with the Wallabies until after next year's World Cup, Osborne said it was only a matter of time before the 22-year-old switched codes.
"He rang me before he went with the decision and I just said stay for a year and play in the World Cup," Osborne said.
"We've got a really good relationship. We hit it off pretty well, we just clicked. He'll play for Parramatta one day."
Cooper spent the past month mulling over whether to switch codes after the Eels tabled a four-year deal worth $3.2 million.
Desperate to resolve their halves crisis, Parramatta pulled out all stops to entice the young Queenslander to wearing the Eels' No. 6 jumper next season.
It was at a dinner in Brisbane last month that Osborne, Parramatta chairman Roy Spagnolo and star fullback Jarryd Hayne tried to woo Cooper.
It showed him the Eels' offer was serious.
Osborne even joked that he was willing to name the Parramatta Stadium pool after Olympic champion Stephanie Rice, who is rumoured to be the Wallabies star's girlfriend.
But after sitting down with his parents David and Ruhia last week, Cooper knocked back the lucrative offer from Parramatta to sign a one-year extension, worth around $700,000, with the Australian Rugby Union.
However, the short-term deal has only heightened fears that Cooper still has a burning desire to return to the game he played until he was 18.
"He's very keen to try his hand at league, so I guess we've just got to wait 12 months," said Hayne, who has become a confidant of Cooper.
And even the man himself was unwilling to rule out the prospect of an NRL career despite committing to rugby union for 12 more months.
"The offers from Parramatta and rugby league were flattering and you'd be silly not to look at them," Cooper said.
"After all, it is a professional era. It's also a challenge any sportsman would look at.
"Sport is all about challenges. As for a personal challenge, well, rugby league is something I really looked into.
"I'm sure I would've enjoyed the challenge of playing in another code.
"As they say, you never know until you try it.
"I played a lot of rugby league growing up.
"But I haven't played it at the highest level, as I have in union. From this day, it is something I will continue to look at."
But without Cooper on their books, for next season at least, the Eels have made no secret of their intentions to lure a marquee halfback to the club.
Retired stars Brett Kimmorley and Trent Barrett and Melbourne Storm halfback Cooper Cronk have all been approached by senior Parramatta officials to no avail.
Former Manly premiership-winning halfback Matt Orford is also on the Eels' radar but the Raiders are also interested in the experienced No. 7.
However, it's likely they will also fall short of signing the 32-year-old, with Bradford, who Orford is currently signed with, unwilling to let him go.
It leaves the Eels in a precarious position following their failure to make the finals, which highlighted a serious problem in the halves.
Last year's grand finalists are also in the middle of a complete review of the club's coaching structure, which has raised serious questions about the future of Daniel Anderson, who is contracted to the club until the end of 2011.
Alongside club directors Geoff Gerrard and Glen Duncan, Osborne is leading an internal interview process of the club's entire football operations.
It's anticipated that the wide-ranging review could take up to a month to complete
