FFS! Quade Cooper in secret talks with Parramatta Eels

[Parraren]

Haven't seen this one posted anywhere. The press must be loving this, 4-5 articles a day until he decides where he's going...

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27565126-5016959,00.htmlhttp://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/stockland-buys-land-in-se-qld-20100817-127z1.html

ARU has misread Quade Cooper's intentions and may pay the price

By Bret Harris
August 17, 2010 Western Force announced the signing of New Zealander Willie Ripia on Monday, but if things had turned out differently the Super 15 franchise could have secured Quade Cooper, averting his threat to switch to rugby league.
Cooper had been interested in moving from Queensland Reds to the Force to join his good friends David Pocock and James O'Connor, and to tap into the bountiful reservoir of third-party endorsements in the west.
But it was obvious that the ARU wanted Cooper to remain in Queensland where his unique brand of playmaking had helped the Reds rise from the bottom of the table.
The ARU is normally appreciative of third-party deals - as long as they comply with recruitment protocols - because they help to keep leading Wallabies out of the clutches of rich clubs in Europe and Japan.
But Cooper's situation was different.
The ARU is administering the Queensland Rugby Union after it went into receivership. And it needs a drawcard like Cooper to sell tickets.
Crowds at Reds games increased by 29 per cent in this year's Super 14 series and that was due largely to the exciting brand of rugby Queensland played as a result of Cooper's direction of the attack.
From a Wallabies perspective, there was a view that it would be in the national interest for Cooper to continue to develop his outstanding combination with Reds halfback Will Genia.
Genia and Cooper are regarded as the new "Gregan and Larkham" and are set to direct Queensland and Australia for years to come.
The Force, aware it would be politically dangerous to snare Cooper from Queensland, made a standard offer to him, which he rejected.
Cooper indicated he would stay in Queensland where he could attract some third-party money, but not as much as he could have commanded in Perth.
Yet if Cooper had secured a lucrative third-party deal in Perth, it may have taken pressure off the ARU financially and helped to fend off the threat from rugby league.
But no one saw that threat coming. Even last Friday, ARU chief executive John O'Neill dismissed speculation about Parramatta's interest in Cooper as an attempt by his management to bump up his price.
But it is now clear that Cooper is serious about switching codes if the ARU does not increase its top-up.
The ARU has badly misread Cooper, his dreams and ambitions.
While the lure of playing for the Wallabies in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand is great, so is the possibility of playing State of Origin and becoming a dual international.
Cooper is demanding remuneration which reflects not what he was or what he will be, but what he is - one of the world's premier playmakers.

 

[mrpwnd]

While the lure of playing for the Wallabies in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand is great, so is the possibility of playing State of Origin and becoming a dual international.

Hahahaha...With Thurston having a mortgage on that no.7 jersey for the next 5-7 years, they still think they can hype him up as an origin/test rep?

Well, good news is that we seem to have abit of 'hope' in luring him here, personally I think he'll just stick with union, at the end of the day, he's got it all there right in front of him there, as opposed to starting fresh in the NRL.

 

[Avenger]

I reckon he will come and will be our best buy since Ray Price.

 

[El Diablo]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/no-crazy-money-for-quade-cooper-aru-20100817-128b3.html

No 'crazy money' for Quade Cooper: ARU
David Beniuk
August 17, 2010 - 6:34PM

AAP

Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill is adamant he won't pay "crazy money" for Quade Cooper, but remains confident the star five-eighth will stay with the 15-man game.

The stakes were raised in the battle for Cooper's services when his manager Richard Colreavy met NRL officials on Monday in the wake of interest from league clubs Parramatta and Newcastle.

The 22-year-old has reportedly been offered $500,000 a year to join the Eels, while the ARU have tabled a guaranteed $350,000 plus match payments which could take his earnings to $600,000 a season.
Advertisement: Story continues below

O'Neill, who has sought to rein in player payments, said he would not be bullied into paying overs for Cooper, the player whose meteoric rise has made him a key to Australia's World Cup challenge next year.

"We're confident we can come to an arrangement with Quade that's in his best interests, not just financially but for him as a person and someone who can make an enormous mark on our game," O'Neill told reporters on Tuesday.

"He is a very important and valuable part of the future of Australian rugby and particularly the Wallabies, but we won't be paying crazy money, it will be money that's appropriate for a player of his value."

That value, according to O'Neill, is similar to a group of emerging young Wallabies.

"We've also got a fair number of players who are in the same category as a Quade Cooper," he said.

"Quade is one of a number of young players - James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale, David Pocock - who are vital to the next few years and we've got to be careful we don't create anomalies."

The ARU's preference is to lock Cooper into a three-year deal that will ensure he plays in the World Cup in New Zealand next year and against the touring British and Irish Lions in 2013.

"We'd prefer three (years), perhaps two but three would be a preference," O'Neill said.

"If I was planning my career as a player those two events are as good as they get."

O'Neill last spoke with Cooper on Friday but said dialogue was ongoing between Colreavy and ARU negotiator Peter Friend, while coach Robbie Deans had also been speaking with his star No.10.

The ARU boss made a rare appearance at Wallabies training on Tuesday, explaining the visit as a chance to catch up with fellow spectators Mark Ella and Simon Poidevin.

But O'Neill is now less confident the Cooper deal will be in the bag before the Wallabies fly out on Friday for two Tri-Nations Tests against South Africa in Pretoria on August 28 and Bloemfontein on September 4.

"It's still possible but it's got to be a tidy deal, you don't want to leave anything to chance," he said.

"If it could be done by Friday, by the time the team flies to South Africa, I think that would be in everyone's best interest ... because the preparation of the team for two big Tests in South Africa has to be without distractions.

"We are still keen to have it resolved this week but it's not die in a ditch if we don't."

Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom dead-batted questions about Cooper on Tuesday.

"I can't stop you talking about it but I can not talk about it," he said.

 

[Avenger]

Arrogant Union pricks.

 

[Parraren]

Arrogant Union pricks.

Yep, their sh*t don't stink apparently.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Hahahaha...With Thurston having a mortgage on that no.7 jersey for the next 5-7 years, they still think they can hype him up as an origin/test rep?

Well, good news is that we seem to have abit of 'hope' in luring him here, personally I think he'll just stick with union, at the end of the day, he's got it all there right in front of him there, as opposed to starting fresh in the NRL.

So someone has evidence that he's played junior league in Queensland?

He went to a rugby school and played Australian schoolboys RUGBY in years 11 and 12 (and one can only assume played union years 7-10 as well...)

His qualifying league game could well be for Parra - thus making him NSW eligible?

That's all assuming he actually defects....

 

[caylo]

Arrogant Union pricks.

Mate let them be arrogent, I'm sure one of the NRL sponsors will come on board and allow Cooper a salary of 600K+ which is the upper limit to him earning potential in RU. Then the addition of possible rep games he will jump the gun, by all reports he enjoys RL more then RU and why wouldnt you. No wonder the kid had trouble with the law, RU was sending him crazy.

 

[strider]

i still don't think he'll come

and while he'd be good - i don't think he'd solve our pressing issue anyway :lol: .... but hey he'd at least be entertaining

 

[parra pete]

IMO he would be terrific I love the way he plays for the Queensland Reds....PLUS he is a great goal kicker...but like Strider, I'm a pessimist..I reckon he will stick to Rugby.....
I think Quade would prefer to be a big fish in little pond, rather than little fish in big pond..

 

[caylo]

IMO he would be terrific I love the way he plays for the Queensland Reds....PLUS he is a great goal kicker...but like Strider, I'm a pessimist..I reckon he will stick to Rugby.....
I think Quade would prefer to be a big fish in little pond, rather than little fish in big pond..

on goal kicking you need to becarful because the rugby ball is rounder and thus easier to kick futher and more accuratly. I think he would be an avg goal kicker in RL tbh

 

[Maroubra Eel]

Don't be surprised if we hear further developments tomorrow.

 

[parra pete]

Don't be surprised if we hear further developments tomorrow.

I've heard on the 'grapevine' that an announcement could be made tomorrow, probably around 11 am..Did you hear the same 'whisper'?

I'm like the cat that ate a block of cheese and waited for the mice with baited breath.

 

[belmoreeel]

I've heard on the 'grapevine' that an announcement could be made tomorrow, probably around 11 am..Did you hear the same 'whisper'?

I'm like the cat that ate a block of cheese and waited for the mice with baited breath.

are you a cat like tom from tom and jerry ? sounds like something he would do but jerry has swapped the cheese for dynomite or something like that

 

[Uncle Leo]

I've heard on the 'grapevine' that an announcement could be made tomorrow, probably around 11 am..Did you hear the same 'whisper'?

I'm like the cat that ate a block of cheese and waited for the mice with baited breath.

This is the house that Jack built.This is the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built.This is the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the cat that killed the ratThat ate the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built.This is the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the maiden all forlornThat milked the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the man all tattered and tornThat kissed the maiden all forlornThat milked the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the priest all shaven and shornThat married the man all tattered and tornThat kissed the maiden all forlornThat milked the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the c**k that crowed in the mornThat waked the priest all shaven and shornThat married the man all tattered and tornThat kissed the maiden all forlornThat milked the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the farmer sowing his cornThat kept the c**k that crowed in the mornThat waked the priest all shaven and shornThat married the man all tattered and tornThat kissed the maiden all forlornThat milked the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.This is the horse and the hound and the hornThat belonged to the farmer sowing his cornThat kept the c**k that crowed in the mornThat waked the priest all shaven and shornThat married the man all tattered and tornThat kissed the maiden all forlornThat milked the cow with the crumpled hornThat tossed the dog that worried the catThat killed the rat that ate the cheeseThat lay in the house that Jack built.:sarcasm::crazy:

 

[Forty20]

Relaxed NRL salary cap rules help Parramatta launch raid for Quade
BRAD WALTER
August 18, 2010


ANALYSIS

It has been well known for some time in league circles that Quade Cooper was interested in switching codes, but it was not until recent changes to the salary cap rules that NRL clubs have been in a position to make him the first Wallabies recruit since Garrick Morgan joined the South Queensland Crushers in 1995.

With corporate support for the 15-man code in Australia dwindling, the ARU has decided that the big-money contracts afforded to the likes of Lote Tuqiri and Matt Giteau are now a thing of the past and want to put the country's top players on largely incentive-based contracts whereby their income is supplemented by Test match appearances.

But at the same time, the NRL has loosened its salary cap rules so that players can earn guaranteed third-party payments of up to $300,000 and an unlimited amount from non-club sponsors. Further changes enable clubs to offer cars and players to take advantage of tax breaks for the use of their intellectual property rights.

As a result, Cooper will be able to earn more than $850,000 per year if he accepts Parramatta's three-year offer whereas the deal tabled by the ARU guarantees the Wallabies playmaker just $360,000 per year.

While the offer represents a $100,000 increase on Cooper's current rugby deal, it is less than half the money that Giteau - the player Cooper supplanted for the Australian No.10 jersey - receives, but the ARU can no longer afford such lucrative contracts.

Coincidentally, it was the ARU's role in blocking a possible move by Cooper from the Queensland Reds to the Western Force - where a $110,000 ceiling salary Australian Super 14s franchises are permitted to pay players would have been topped up by third-party deals from Perth businesses - that first prompted him to consider a switch to league.

Officials from other NRL clubs yesterday told the Herald they had been sounded out about their interest in Cooper a month ago, and after missing out on Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk the Eels opened negotiations with the Wallabies five-eighth last week.

Cooper had wanted to join good mates David Pocock and James O'Connor at the Force but the ARU is administering the QRU after it went into receivership. The 22-year-old is the Reds' biggest drawcard so he could not be allowed to leave for the riches on offer in Perth.

Apart from his $110,000 Super rugby contract, Cooper receives a car and accommodation allowance from the QRU that takes his deal with the Reds to about $150,000. He has signed with the QRU for a further two years but that is subject to his finalising a deal with the ARU, which pays him $110,000 and has offered to increase that to $210,000 next year.

But with the NRL having recently doubled the marquee player allowance for each club from $150,000 to $300,000, the Eels have at least $150,000 they can offer him in guaranteed third-party sponsorship deals with club sponsors on top of his base contract. In addition, Parramatta officials have told the Herald that other corporate backers are lining up to do deals with Cooper if he signs with the club and it is now believed he could earn up to $1 million by making the switch.

Such deals enabled the Broncos to snare Greg Inglis from Melbourne last week on a $300,000 playing contract and it was revealed that Justin Hodges is on the same money, while captain Darren Lockyer is listed at $250,000 under the salary cap and Sam Thaiday at $240,000.

Clicky

$1 million sure is alot of money, least we are keeping approximately half of it of the cap if true.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Clicky

$1 million sure is alot of money, least we are keeping approximately half of it of the cap if true.

Starting to sound more and more promising - ESPECIALLY with the ARU now considering a 1 year deal - sounds like they know they're on the back foot.

I'll check in at 11am today - can't wait for the big announcement!!!!!

 

[Gronk]

Eels' credibility slip-sliding away

• By Andrew Webster
• From: The Daily Telegraph
• August 18, 2010 12:00AM

I'D LOVE to have Quade Cooper at the club," says Parramatta chief executive Paul Osborne. "But we're hardly laying out a hundred metres of red carpet yet."

It's a remark that conflicts heavily with the present assumption that the Eels cannot see what everyone else can: that the Wallabies playmaker and his manager, Richard Colreavy, have cast a line deep into the Parramatta River and the Eels are snapping away at the shiny lure, unaware that it is very unlikely there is any actual meat on the end of the hook.
Because everywhere you asked yesterday, in both rugby league and union, it was becoming clearer that Cooper had no intention of defecting to rugby league - even if the Eels remain in a lather about pulling off the coup of the century.
It didn't take too much investigation to learn that the mysterious Colreavy is a rookie operator who has used the tactic before of creating a false economy to leverage a better deal for his clients.

He shopped his only other notable player, David Pocock, to European rugby in May this year before the Wallabies flanker re-signed with the Western Force - as most expected.
You would hope the fact Colreavy made the initial approach to the Eels - then bemoaned the ARU's offer instead of talking of Cooper's deep desire to play league - sounded alarm bells in the heads of Eels officials.
Warning! Warning! Warning! Leverage alert!
That aside, there is genuine fear in rugby circles that Colreavy could paint his player into a corner given his limited experience dealing with a player of this growing calibre.
ARU boss John O'Neill doesn't play games.
They've been playing plenty out at Parramatta of late as speculation mounts about the future of coach Daniel Anderson and the saga surrounding the pursuit of Cooper.
It has been said that Anderson isn't sold on signing the reborn Wallabies star on telephone-number figures and would prefer they chase veteran Brett Kimmorley to bolster the halves. Nathan Hindmarsh raised his doubts publicly on Sunday.
In the meantime, Anderson must be confused about his position and whether he has a say in any of it; and not least in the wake of revelations an hour before kick-off to last Friday night's clash with the Broncos that Osborne had met with Storm assistant coach Steve Kearney during the week.
Why wasn't the coach at the meeting at St Pauls Tavern (owned by controversial porn king Con Ange, incidentally) in Brisbane the previous night when Cooper met Osborne, chairman Roy Spagnolo and his Twitter pal Jarryd Hayne?
If the fullback was there, why not the coach?
Conveniently, the Cooper saga has emerged at precisely the right time for the Eels because it has shifted the focus away from the noose around the coach's neck and the anger among the players that some of those above are doubting the coach.
It also highlights that the club is desperate for a kill.
The Eels have shed players in Feleti Mateo and Krisnan Inu.
They have money to burn, as we keep hearing. Yet Osborne has failed to land veteran Trent Barrett and missed the biggest fish of all in Cooper Cronk.
To the outsider, they appear to be chasing Cooper so vigorously because they have failed to secure anyone else.
That belief rankled Osborne when this column raised it with him yesterday.
"The only player we've approached is Barrett," he said. "We were interested in Cooper Cronk but the Storm refused to release him.
"We would have loved to have him here but he was never going to be allowed to leave."
Rugby league tends to disappear up its own bottom at these joyously myopic times.
Sure, Cooper would be a coup for the NRL but a damaging blow for the collective sporting good of the nation.
If we want to drink from the Webb Ellis Trophy in New Zealand next year, you suspect Cooper must be there.
You also suspect he will be.
Asked if he believed Cooper had a real interest in playing league, Osborne smiled: "Yes ... but don't ask me when."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...lip-sliding-away/story-e6frfgh6-1225906592569

 

[strider]

so if he took the ARU 1yr deal so he could play in the world cup, would we then want to commit $500K to a guy who won't be here until another season's time? :?

 

[Gronk]

From Wiki re RUWC 2011

The event is scheduled to be played over seven weekends from the weekend starting 10 September and culminating the weekend starting 22 October 2011.[3] The weekend of the final was chosen so it falls on a long weekend caused by the New Zealand public holiday of Labour Day (Monday, 24 October 2011).[4] The final is scheduled to be played in Auckland at Eden Park.[3]

I think he'd be worth waiting for. Lets face it, what other big name playmaker will up for grabs ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Rugby_World_Cup#cite_note-RWC2011FS-2