Saturday, 3 September 2011

Kiwis' plan to lure Cooper to switch codes - and loyalty




THE New Zealand Rugby League is planning to convince Quade Cooper to turn his back on the Kangaroos and represent the Kiwis if the Wallabies superstar switches codes.


There was speculation New Zealand-born Cooper and All Black Sonny Bill Williams, both represented by Khoder Nasser, would be shopped around to NRL clubs as a package after the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.


Parramatta put the 23-year-old Wallaby on rugby league's radar last year when they offered him a deal said to be worth $1.5 million over three years.


While he rejected it to sign a one-year contract with the Australian Rugby Union, to presumably play in a World Cup, the NZRL has monitored him closely.


Tony Kemp, the manager of New Zealand's national team, admitted he had already intended to do all he could to ensure Cooper declared his allegiance to the nation of his birth and joined the likes of Benji Marshall in the Kiwis squad.


''My role at the NZRL is to ensure any player who is a Kiwi makes himself available for our national team,'' the former Warriors coach said. ''It's only a rumour about him playing league but Quade Cooper is no different. He came through all the New Zealand structures, it was only because he played the back end of his rugby union career in Australia that he's playing for the Wallabies.


''If he stayed in New Zealand, I guarantee right now Dan Carter would be second string to him. If Quade Cooper does [switch] and he wants to play for New Zealand, we would be happy to have him.''


Meanwhile, if Williams, who walked out on Canterbury in 2008 after he signed a five-year deal estimated to be worth $2.5 million, needed a reason to return to league, Kemp offered one.
''Sonny would be in the mix for the next New Zealand team,'' Kemp said. ''He'd no doubt fit straight back into the sport.


''I think it'd be great for league if Quade and Sonny Bill came over as a package.''
While he didn't name names, Kemp said he continued to field calls from New Zealanders who had moved to Australia to declare themselves Kiwis.


''I'm getting calls all the time,'' he said. ''We have been working very hard at the NZRL to create pathways over the last couple of years, and one of the good things about the restructure of the organisation is we can talk more to [Kiwi eligible] players about the opportunity to wear the black jersey.




Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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