Quade Cooper aims to fix Wallabies' "toxic environment"
- From: AAP
- September 23, 201210:15PM
OUTSPOKEN playmaker Quade Cooper has labelled the Wallabies a
"toxic environment" but says it's one he wants to fix.
A frustrated Cooper on Sunday night denied he was attempting to undermine coach Robbie Deans following a series of negative Twitter posts against the Australian Rugby Union and the Wallabies set-up.
But the sidelined five-eighth, whose own future in the game now appears shaky,
felt he needed to speak out about in-house problems within the national team.
Cooper started speaking his mind on Thursday when he criticised Australia's boring style,
warning they would continue to lose fans and Bledisloe Tests against New Zealand with conservative tactics.
Then among a series of controversial tweets on Saturday, he said he was only allowed to play his exciting game in Super Rugby for Queensland and might join close friend Sonny Bill Williams in the NRL next season.
Cooper said
the tweets were not an attack on Deans but the whole Wallabies/ARU set-up - players, selectors, officials and coaches alike - which he believed was a far cry from the professionalism of the Reds.
"
There's a lot of people who are afraid to say what they feel so they just go along with it and nothing is going to change," he told AAP on Sunday night.
"
That's why I feel so strongly as a player. I don't want to be involved in the toxic environment, and that's how it is at the moment.
"It's an environment where things aren't going according to plan
and everyone is looking to point the finger."
Cooper stressed he loved the code and would continue to play under Deans, who is under pressure to keep his job from Reds coach Ewen McKenzie.
"
All I want to do is fix the problems and get on with it and win rugby games," the 24-year-old said.
"But if to say that Ewen is the next coach of course I would support that.
"
That's not to say I'm not supporting Robbie. He's done a lot for me as a kid coming through.
"I'm very respectful to Robbie and I'm
very thankful to Robbie as well for giving me the opportunity that he has.
"But for me it's about bettering myself and bettering the country
and I'm just sick of losing to the All Blacks.
"
I hate losing."
Cooper also identified poor selections as an impediment and cited the late, but successful, Test call-up of Reds winger Dom Shipperley due to injuries as an example of form Super Rugby players being overlooked.
The 38-Test five-eighth signed a three-year contract to remain with Queensland in June but with ARU negotiations dragging on there's concerns he'll be lost to rugby.
"I don't want to come across as a mercenary
but I feel very strongly about how this is run because I'm part of it and I want to succeed," he said.
"There would have to be big things to take me away from the game but at the same time I don't want to be a pawn in things that aren't moving forward."
Just thought I would post this again highlighting what I thought were valid and to some degree insightful comments.
If you were to view this from a totally unbiased point of view, it would appear to be someone who is trying to improve Aus rugby.
Whether his approach and delivery is particularly good is obviously questionable, but again if you can look at
what he is trying to to say, I believe that he is attempting to make a
positive contribution to the state of Australian rugby.
The vast majority of the 2280 posts in this thread have been about the fact that Quade raised these points. The same points I may add that the bulk of this forum have been making for some considerable period of time. However because it was Quade that brought it out into the mainstream he has been pilloried.
There has been numerous posts portraying his statements as an unhappy employee, wanting more money, too big headed etc.
Just for a moment consider the view that he is a whistleblower. Someone that is so fed up with trying to make change from within, along with a number of other players and administrators and followers like us, and it isn't occuring.
And we are continuing to go downhill in terms of our rankings. We are no longer No 2, which was seemingly our catchcry, and don't even look like beating ABs, with no plan in place to rectify the situation (actually total capitulation in this regard from our national coach) because we are
not playing our traditional style of rugby
And so Quade finally feels he has to speak out.
And the result, he is absolutely crucified.
I believe there are three reasons:-
1 Rugby is old school. You
do not question your superiors. Whether you are right or wrong it does not matter. You rock the boat and you
will be punished, to the extreme
2 Its Quade. He could have stood up and stated that RD is the best coach we have ever had, and the same people who are shooting him down in flames would still do the same. He is a polarising personality so the words he utters make no difference, same as ford/holden, labor/liberal, climate alarmists/deniers. Nothing will change.
3 And most importantly, the way OUR game is administered is an absolute joke. Petty men who think they are bigger than OUR game. Petty pathetic people whose main consideration is their own status. Yes ARU board I am referring to you. The "Keeper of the Game". The trouble is that the
game is OUR game, not your social standing.
If Quade Cooper leaves rugby because of the incompetence of the ARU, not only will we lose a very large number of kids coming through, and a lot of money and support, we will lose an enormous amount of respect for our game.
An Independant Commission for Autralian Rugby cannot come soon enough.
We need people who will govern in the best interests of our game!
And that includes a coach who can bring out the best in his players. Is that too much to ask?
I feel so dirty............