Now its the ARU’s turn. Quade Cooper appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court today in response to his arrest and burglary charge arising from last Sunday morning’s incident on the Gold Coast.
He was remanded without plea for a commital hearing requested by his solicitor Angelo Venardos.
This was granted by Magistrate Daley and the matter was set down for Friday, 2 July 2010.
Mr Venardos indicated that Cooper would plead ‘not guilty’ to the burglary charge. He said that there was a lot more to this circumstance than met the eye.
He indicated that the charge would be defended vigorously.
He apoligised on behalf of Cooper for the embarrassment he had caused his employer, corporate supporters, team mates and family.
He said that Cooper was also grateful for the support he had received from the ARU and QRU.
The next step is in the hands of the ARU, who must now decide on what course of action to take with their player.
It is not unusual for an investigation to be undertaken into any alleged breach of the player’s Code of Conduct.
Whether Cooper is stood down or not in the meantime is another matter to be determined.
He is currently on leave along with other Queensland based Wallabies until he returns to training next month.
Guilt or innocence in relation to the burglary charge is obviously not going to be established until mid year.
Over recent years the ARU have been ruthless with any player that has allegedly stepped over the bounds of good conduct or whom they believe has brought the game into disrepute.
I would think that this case falls well into that category, but whether the ARU are going to deal with it on a Code of Conduct basis at this time should be known soon.
Cooper apparently attended fellow Wallaby Peter Hyne’s bucks party earlier in the evening last Saturday prior to the incident taking place.
