I replied to those statements from Deans in the 25 man squad thread, but to me that means that Deans is looking for excuses not to pick Cooper. Blaming Cooper for Taps being out of form is crazy; Taps made his own mistakes, Cooper doesn't make him drop good balls and miss tackles he should make.
Clearly Deans has issues with Cooper, and is looking for ways to justify Cooper's non-selection. The last part of that article says everything, where Deans doesn't bother to even call Cooper about his omission.
As anyone who's been here since mid-2010 knows, I lost confidence in Deans that year and then commenced the prediction of his mediocrity and revealed poor character (e.g., never admitting a single mistake, flaw or failing of his own, always actually or inferentially blaming his players, injuries, depth issues, etc). That stance was near heresy back then.
So I was out of outraged passion regarding him a long time ago. But when I read today of this incredible allegation that QC (Quade Cooper) is directly responsible for Taps' poor form this year even I was newly appalled, Deans has sunk to new depths with that reckless and insensitive public assessment. It's not only speculative and ill-informed, it's massively tactless and stupid at a level of securing decent relations with all of QC (Quade Cooper), Link, the other Wallaby Reds, and in general QLD fans and the QRU. In summary, it's an extraordinary misjudgement and confirms (as if it were needed) his clear unsuitability for the most important non-executive position in Australian rugby.