No NRL team interest in signing rugby union renegade Quade Cooper
RENEGADE rugby union player Quade Cooper has been dealt a dose of reality, with every NRL club slamming the door on a code switch.
Tomorrow, at the Brisbane Convention Centre, Cooper will officially announce his plan to stage a boxing bout on the undercard of the latest Sonny Bill Williams sideshow against 44-year-old Francois Botha in February.
As world champion Danny Green pointed out last week, Cooper calling himself a boxer is like Green announcing his intention to takeover as the Wallaby five-eighth.
It's an insult to all the great names to have graced Australian pugilism over the past 50 years such as Lionel Rose, Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding and Daniel Geale.
Cooper has been labelled a mercenary and high maintenance after walking away from his contract negotiations with the Australian Rugby Union.
And no NRL club is prepared to take a risk on the former Queensland Reds playmaker, with all 16 clubs contacted by The Sunday Telegraph issuing an emphatic "no".
Despite the New Zealand Warriors having ample room to accommodate Cooper, new coach Matthew Elliott branded him too much of a risk.
"He's obviously a sublime talent, but at this stage we're not in a position to take the risk," Elliott said.
"We are in a position where we do have some freight and we are looking at halves and outside backs, but we're not in a position to speculate that much money on a player coming from union to league."
It was a similar story at every other rugby league club.
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http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ade-quade-cooper/story-fn8tk0tu-1226523422551