Matt Cooper (rugby league)

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Matt Cooper
Personal information
Full nameMatthew Cooper
Born (1979-04-18) 18 April 1979 (age 44)
Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
PositionCentre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000–13
St George Illawarra
244 125 0 0 500
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–04 Country NSW 2 1 0 0 4
2004–10 New South Wales 13 3 0 0 12
2004–06 Australia 7 8 0 0 32
2010
NRL All Stars
1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Matt Cooper (born 18 April 1979) is an Australian former professional

2010 NRL grand final
.

Background

Cooper was born in Port Kembla, New South Wales on 18 April 1979. He originally gained an interest in rugby league football as a supporter of Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies, the club his father followed. He began playing football at the age of six for his local junior club, the Shellharbour Sharks, while also participating in athletics and surf lifesaving. After moving to Illawarra, Cooper began supporting the Illawarra Steelers. He signed on to the Illawarra Steelers club as a teenager prior to their joint-venture with the St. George at the end of 1998. After the joint-venture of the Dragons and the Steelers clubs prior to the 1999 NRL season, Cooper was signed on with the newly formed St. George Illawarra Dragons team.

Professional playing career

2000s

At the age of twenty-one Cooper made his NRL début for the

St. George Illawarra line-up for the second game of the season and was not re-called until round seven in which he crossed the line for his first try against the New Zealand Warriors
, Cooper in total scored two tries in limited appearances in the 2000 season.

The

2002
, Cooper was able to retain his position in the team for the majority of the season and finished the year with a total of seven tries from nineteen games.

Cooper held down his spot for the duration of the

2003 season. In total, Cooper scored eleven tries including three doubles during the regular season, he then tasted his first representative honour being selected to play for Country in the annual City and Country Origin. Although the season eventually finished on a low note both for the Dragons and Cooper with another injury yet again forcing him out of the team. Though all was not lost for Matt as he was nominated for the Dragons player of the year, eventually losing out to Ben Hornby
while he picked up the Geoff Selby Memorial NRL Coaches Award.

The 2004 season yet again was one of improvement and new opportunity, Cooper began the season well scoring a total of eight tries in six matches for St. George Illawarra including four tries in a single match against the reigning premiers the

Nathan Brown had recommended that Cooper be selected for the Australian rugby league team under coach Wayne Bennett,[1]
though he eventually opted for the usual more experienced international representatives and Cooper did not play a competitive match on the tour.

After having an impressive début match in the previous series, Cooper was subsequently re-selected for New South Wales in the 2005 State of Origin series, playing in all three matches of the series helping New South Wales to another series win, scoring one try along the way in game two. He finished the NRL season well with thirteen tries from twenty games and was again selected to go on to tour of Great Britain with Australia. He appeared in the first three test matches on the tour, scoring five tries.

Injury yet again hit Cooper early on in the

Eric Grothe, Jr. from the Parramatta Eels[2]
. After missing the first game of Origin for New South Wales, Cooper failed to be called up for game two with Grothe retaining his position after a solid performance in game one. On 11 June it was announced that Cooper had been called up as 18th man on stand by for the game.

In August 2008, Cooper was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[3][4]

Cooper playing for the Dragons in 2008

He was selected for Country in the City vs Country match on 8 May 2009.[5] However, he did not play in the match after withdrawing with injury.[6]

2010s

In the first round of

St. George Illawarra team that beat the Sydney Roosters 32–8 in the 2010 NRL Grand Final
, helping the joint venture club claim its first premiership. This was also Cooper's 100th career win out of a possible 199 NRL games.

The following February Cooper travelled with the St. George Illawarra to England to play the Super League champions, Wigan Warriors in the 2011 World Club Challenge. He scored a try in St. George Illawarra's victory. Cooper ended the 2011 season as St. George Illawarra's leading tryscorer with 14. Cooper scored six tries in 15 games in the 2012 NRL season. He scored two tries in eight games in the 2013 NRL season.

After football

Cooper was a participant in the fourteenth season of Dancing with the Stars.[7] In 2015, Cooper was a contestant in the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.[8] In late 2016, he admitted to an addiction to the drug endone, following pain relief required for a bulging disc in his vertebrae.[3] In August 2021, Cooper was announced as a contestant on the celebrity version of Big Brother Australia.[9]

In October 2022, Cooper launched an attack on his former club St. George Illawarra saying “There’s no pride in the jersey anymore, From 2001-2011 we only missed the finals twice. Since then, we’ve only made them twice. Obviously it changed when Wayne Bennett left. It all starts from the top… that’s where the culture comes from. There’s no pride in the jersey now, no team-first attitude. You can see that when players are asking to be released – and I’m not blaming them. There’s a reason they want to go elsewhere".[10]

References

  1. ^ RLP
  2. ^ "NZRL - Anzac Test 2006". www.nzrl.co.nz. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006.
  3. ^ Liam FitzGibbon (1 August 2008). "Surprises in Kangaroos squad". "Fox Sports News (Australia)". Archived from the original on 8 August 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  4. ^ "Veteran Lockyer named in Australian squad". International Herald Tribune. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  5. ^ Balym, Todd (3 May 2009). "Blues halfback duel in two as Mitchell Pearce misses selection". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  6. ^ "St George Illawarra five-eighth Jamie Soward called up for Country". Fox Sports. 4 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Dancing With The Stars 2014 line-up: Which celebrities we'd rather see on Seven's dancing show". news.com.au. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  8. ^ Hoyer, Melissa (20 July 2015). "Gabi Grecko, Geoffrey Edelsten, Mel Greig sign up for Celebrity Apprentice". news.com.au. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Big Brother VIP cast revealed include Caitlyn Jenner, Thomas Markle Jr and Jessika Power". Seven News. 8 August 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  10. ^ "'No pride in the jersey': Dragons legend slams 'disgraceful' state of fallen club". www.foxsports.com.au. 24 October 2022.

Footnotes

  1. "Dragons players since 1921, Player profiles", Showroom, retrieved 13 June 2006
  2. "World of Rugby League Matt Cooper News & Statistics", World of Rugby League, retrieved 13 June 2006
  3. "Blues call up Cooper", Foxsports, retrieved 13 June 2006
  4. "Cooper's crossings drive Dragons" by Brad Walter 19 April 2004, Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 13 June 2006

External links