http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-record-850000-for-cooper-20100815-125b8.html
Eels to offer record $850,000 for Cooper
PARRAMATTA are prepared to make Quade Cooper the highest-paid player in the NRL with a deal worth twice as much as the one tabled by the Australian Rugby Union to keep the Wallabies star.
Having missed out on Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk after the Storm released Greg Inglis to Brisbane last week, the Eels are willing to offer the same $850,000 deal to Cooper if he decides to switch codes next season.
Not only would the Parramatta deal make Cooper the highest-paid player in the NRL, it would also dwarf the $400,000 offer put forward by the ARU. Cooper, considered Australia's best player and recently named the Super 14 player of the year, is thought to be insulted by the ARU's offer of a $100,000 pay rise to help the Wallabies try to win the World Cup next season.
Without Cooper leading the attack, few believe Australia have a realistic chance of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy in New Zealand. And the immediate sentiment after last week's 20-10 loss to the All Blacks in Christchurch was that the Wallabies might have ended New Zealand's recent stranglehold over them if Cooper had been available.
Remarkably, Cooper is far from the highest-paid Wallabies player and his deal is understood to be worth less than $300,000 a year, with the ARU paying $110,000 on top of the $150,000 he receives from the Queensland Reds.
The ARU offer would be enhanced because players have the opportunity to earn $12,500 each Test but those payments are not guaranteed as Cooper discovered during his recent two-match ban.
Eels officials are believed to have told him he would have the chance to earn match payments from representative fixtures on top of their massive offer, with State of Origin players set to be granted an increase to $20,000 a game.
Cooper has a league background, and is open about his desire to test himself in the NRL, but he also wants to play in next year's World Cup. He is understood to have ruled out a move to France, where he could command even more money in the Top 14 rugby competition, but is seriously weighing up a switch of codes after almost signing with the Storm in 2007.
Parramatta officials believe he would form a lethal attacking combination with star fullback Jarryd Hayne, who joined chief executive Paul Osborne and chairman Roy Spagnolo at a meeting with Cooper in Brisbane last Thursday night.
The Eels have been looking to recruit a top-calibre halves partner for rookie Daniel Mortimer, and are cashed up after losing captain Nathan Cayless (retirement), five-eighth Kris Keating (Bulldogs), lock Feleti Mateo and centre Krisnan Inu (Warriors), while winger Eric Grothe is also unlikely to play for the club next season.
After missing out on Cronk, they believe Cooper would fit the bill, and Wests Tigers winger Lote Tuqiri yesterday backed his former Wallabies teammate to make a successful transition to the NRL.
"I think he would cross codes easily," Tuqiri said. "He is a natural talent and is someone who plays off the cuff so I think he would be well suited to league."
Not all within the Eels camp are certain of the impact Cooper would make on the NRL should he switch codes. Parramatta co-captain Nathan Hindmarsh yesterday told Triple M radio: Id like to stick with someone in the league ranks, to be honest.
But the Eels other leader, Nathan Cayless, took a different view, insisting Coopers recruitment would be a positive for the code. Ive seen him play, and hes an absolutely outstanding talent, Cayless told BigPond Sports. Hes had some great games for the Wallabies, in a couple of those matches against South Africa, and he played well for the Reds this year as well ... well just have to see what happens with that.
