Cooper a good fit for Blues
OPINION: Quade Cooper needs a job and the Blues still really need a first-five. Why not get the two together?
The man New Zealand rugby fans love to hate might be just the answer for the team that New Zealand rugby fans now like to ridicule.
The Blues’ long title drought has been bemusing given the talent in the region. But the lack of a world class No 10 has long been the team’s Achilles heel.
The common denominator to their titles in 1996, 1997 and 2003 was Carlos Spencer, an unpredictable genius.
The Auckland-born, Tokoroa-raised and Queensland-based Cooper unashamedly modelled his game on Spencer.
He mightn’t have the genius qualities of Spencer, but Cooper has the unorthodox sort of approach that might just suit a Blues team full of attacking weapons.
He’s won a Super Rugby title and although he has fallen out of favour with the new head coach, former All Blacks lock Brad Thorn, he has 119 Super Rugby appearances to call on, including a title win, and 70 test appearances for the Wallabies.
That’s a lot of experience that would benefit the Blues as they try to nurture a new breed of No 10s for the struggling franchise.
They have the steady Bryn Gatland and exciting Stephen Perofeta on their books for 2018 and have returned Daniel Kirkpatrick to cover the unfortunate injury loss of Otere Black.
With due respect to Kirkpatrick, he has a journeyman quality about him and his return to the squad from the second tier of French club rugby came as a surprise.
Cooper certainly has a bit more dash about him and he’s a decent goalkicker too, an area that hasn’t always been an area of strength for the Blues.
Let’s not forget that Cooper has a more-than-useful connection at the Blues too. He’s good mates with Sonny Bill Williams, sharing a love of boxing and the same manager.
A Cooper-Williams combination at first and second-five has a bit of
He mightn't have the genius qualities of [Carlos] Spencer, but [Quade] Cooper has the unorthodox sort of approach that might just suit a Blues team full of attacking weapons.
zing to it, a combination that would keep opposition defences secondguessing.
Yes, there are some frailties to Cooper’s game but you’d back the Kiwi coaching systems to rectify some of those. The squads are set and pre-season training has begun. But why let that get in the way of a good idea?
The Blues finished last in the Kiwi conference this year and needs to find a mix of x-factor and consistency to avoid a repeat in 2018.
Cooper faces an interesting crossroads in his career and more lucrative options might lie in Japan or Europe for the 29-year-old.
But the challenge of winning over New Zealand crowds and helping rejuvenate a once-proud outfit like the Blues sounds tempting for both the player and the franchise.
Cooper might make a better job of it than their last high-profile signing, Benji Marshall.