David Gallop is ready to help steal Quade Cooper
Brent Read and Bret Harris
The Australian
August 16, 2010
THE race for Quade Cooper's signature heated up yesterday.
The NRL revealed it was prepared to sound out sponsors on behalf of the Wallabies playmaker on the condition he was serious about switching codes.
Cooper's manager, Richard Colreavy, responded to the development last night by offering to meet NRL chief executive David Gallop to demonstrate his client's genuine interest in playing rugby league.
Cooper, among the most exciting players in the Wallabies' squad and a key figure in Australian coach Robbie Deans' plans for next year's World Cup in New Zealand, is out of contract at the end of the year.
The ARU has made Cooper an offer, but he is dissatisfied with it and is exploring other options.
Cooper, who has had a breakthrough season with the Queensland Reds and the Wallabies, is seeking renumeration that reflects his new status in the game, while the ARU argues the 22-year-old needs to pay his dues before commanding top dollar.
Colreavy, an accredited NRL agent, has been in contact with Parramatta over a potential switch to rugby league next year.
The Eels are unlikely to match the dollars on offer in union without the support of third parties although there were reports last night the club was ready to table a three-year $500,000 a season deal.
That's where the NRL's involvement could be a deal-breaker.
"It would be great to see him playing rugby league, but there's too many precedents, particularly where players have threatened to go to rugby union, for us to go round playing with the salary cap now," Gallop said.
"Like any player we can look for roles with our sponsors, but we're not about to start assisting clubs outside the salary cap with chasing rugby union players.
"If he seriously wants to look at rugby league, we would do what we could.
"We certainly wouldn't be breaking any salary cap rules.
"We wouldn't be making an exception for him over other players. I'm happy to have a chat with his agent if he is genuine." Colreavy was encouraged by Gallop's position.
"I'll meet with David Gallop tomorrow," Colreavy said. "We are in negotiations with a rugby league club and I'll contact David Gallop if that is his stance."
Although the NRL has made it clear it will not directly pay players, it has been willing in the past to talk to its sponsors on their behalf.
Gallop has previously been involved in negotiations involving former Newcastle captain Andrew Johns, St George Illawarra centre Mark Gasnier and Brisbane centre Israel Folau.
It failed to stop Gasnier and Folau leaving the game, although Gasnier returned to the NRL this year after a stint with French rugby union club Stade Francais.
Cooper represents a different scenario, as the NRL would be poaching him from rugby union rather than trying to retain one of its own players.
Given Cooper's importance to the Wallabies, his signing would represent a coup for the NRL on and off the field.
Rugby union and AFL have poached rugby league players, partly for marketing purposes, and there is a view that it is time for the NRL to return the favour.
Until the advent of professional rugby union in 1995, rugby league clubs regularly raided the Wallabies' best players, but the traffic has since gone the other way.
Several former league players have returned in recent years, most notably Lote Tuqiri, Mat Rogers and Wendell Sailor, but it has been more than a decade since a high-profile rugby union star switched codes.
Former Test second-rower Garrick Morgan was the last Wallaby star to switch.
He played two games with the South Queensland Crushers before returning to rugby union.
Link:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...eal-quade-cooper/story-e6frg7mf-1225905631453
