Rugby
Cooper switches to league?
2011-04-05 11:41
Sydney - Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper would be a fool not to consider switching to rugby league after this year's Rugby World Cup, his new agent said.
The prodigously talented Reds back, who turned 23 on Tuesday, flirted with a move to the Parramatta Eels league club before signing a new contract with the Australian Rugby Union last year.
That contract runs out after the September 9 - October 23 World Cup in New Zealand, however, and Khoder Nasser said he should consider a move to league's Brisbane Broncos if he was approached.
"As a manager involved with a professional athlete like Quade, I think it is important he have as many options on the table as possible," Nasser, who was appointed to manage Cooper's affairs last week, told Tuesday's Daily Telegraph.
"He would be foolish to rule anything like that (the Broncos) out. Top level sportspeople only get to dance on the field for a certain amount of time and they have to make the most of it.
"There is plenty of precedence of players switching between codes and the two sports have been constantly able to mix."
New Zealand-born Cooper displaced regular Wallabies flyhalf Matt Giteau after a brilliant season with the Reds last year and has continued that form after a slow start to this season.
Last month, he grabbed the headlines for a precocious crossfield kick to launch a Reds attack from behind his own tryline in a Super rugby match against South Africa's Cheetahs.
Nasser also represents All Black Sonny Bill Williams, who made the switch from league to union in 2008.