Coops’ milestone worth celebrating
IT will be a strange feeling watching on from the sidelines as one of our club leaders Gavin Cooper brings up his milestone 300th NRL game.
But it is a moment I would not miss.
You always want to play in milestone games, and a milestone like this is a huge achievement for Coops. I won’t play because of my concussion in Origin on Wednesday. I feel OK, I don’t feel like I am injured. I feel like I could play football.
But because of the past two weeks, suffering two concussions in that time, I know it is the right decision to sit out this game. I am comfortable with not playing.
I want to say a big thank you to everyone who sent me a message or shared their warm wishes with me after Wednesday night. I know how hard it was for a lot of people to watch that footage.
I am feeling a lot better now, but the support I received was very humbling. It is nice to know so many people do care about me.
It was a shame to lose Origin on Wednesday, and it is a hurt that will sit with our team for a long time. It is not like club footy where you can go out the next week and rectify it.
But for the boys who pull on the Maroon jersey next year, it won’t be hard to bring back the memories of the hurt from this series.
But for now it is back to club footy, and our special game against the Roosters. We have got a bit of a challenge on our hands to be where we want to be at the end of the season.
We have got plenty to play for this week, the top eight is within reach, and it is a special day for Coops and the club.
Whenever it’s a milestone game, whether the player’s first, 50th, 100th or in this case 300th, you want to make it a good one
I know Cam Smith will get a lot of attention for his 400 game milestone, and rightly so, but internally at the Cowboys, it is Coops’s milestone that means so much to us.
He is a leader in our club. He makes time for everyone and is a very selfless person. He is a big part of creating a good culture at the Cowboys.
He was like it when he returned to the Cowboys in my second year here, he has always been the same, it’s just he has turned into more of a dad in the team these years.
A fair few things have changed. He used to have those horrible sideburns and the rat’s tail, that’s gone from his head. But he still likes his fast cars, so I guess not everything has changed.
I don’t know how I will go watching on tomorrow. I am a bit of a nervous watcher in the grandstands, so hopefully the boys are up by 30 and I don’t have to worry. Either way I know there will be a few lollies in the change room to chew on.