Cooper Vuna signs with Melbourne Rebels

Sammyyy said:
You only play footy for 10-15 years of your life. Vuna has a young family and obviously if hes going to go out there and try something new and if money is a factor then so be it. If a new company wanted you to work for them on triple the amount of money you are on now it'd be dumb of you not to go.

I wish him all the best in union, he definetly had talent and it frees up some money so hopefully we'll be able to sign a quality half or possibily a front-rower.
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It nots like these guys play footy for 10-15 years and then have to retire cos they cant do anything else. Now is it that there playing footy 40 hours a week 48 weeks a year for there entire career, so they have more then enough time to set themselves up for post footy work, be that a degree or trade or whatever.

Not to mention these guy's take home pays (after taxes and agent fees) are 50-60% more then most australians get gross, some are getting 2 or 3 times as much. So eventually the whole im only playing footy for 10 years and i have a family to support just gets old and you just look greedy.

Good riddance to bad rubbish if he jumps so easily
 
this is a joke! man i hate the knights staff! as for kicking him out? no thanks he has to stay in the team hes one of our best players imo and very entertaining...sort of like the folau saga - cant kick him out just coz hes going his own way, it is his life after all..good luck to him im looking forwad to watching him in rugby, helll fit right in
 
Bitterly disappointed, but sounds like it's wholly his own decision. If what's Stoney saying is true, then the club made several attempts to re-sign him. Just don't understand it, I don't think I've ever seen a happier player out there than Cooper this year on the wing, he looked like he was absolutely loving life at the Knights.

When Jimmy is fully fit, he goes straight back onto his wing for mine. Not out of spite, purely looking forward and building for next year.

As for Cooper, I hope he has a great time touching the ball two or three times a game. It's going to be cold down in Melbourne, especially all the way out on that wing.
 
Like every other league player that has left to play union, in a few years time he will come back too NRL . Hopefully he will come back to the knights ..lol
 
As long as he sticks it out for us and gives it his all for the rest of the year i'm happy. Good luck to him, shame but maybe something good will come of this who knows.
 
it is his decision, i dont like it as i'm a loyal supporter and i'm not going to change my team, but if you were given the chance to make more money you would take it anyone here would, its not an easy decision its just one that most people will make... sailer, tahu and all the others that came back to league have pretty much said it was $$$$

good luck to him and i will support him all year and i hope he goes well in rugby and then comes back to the nrl in a few years, he is one of my favourite players and it is a huge loss to the NRL he is an entertainer and a player that loves to get the crowd involved, not many of them around anymore...
 
-AK- said:
Union doesn't only have big money... It's got travel oppurtunity.
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That's true, but apart from the Super 15 he's only going to be playing a very low standard club rugby in front of pitiful crowds.

Still, I spose that means it's way more money for way less work. His season would virtually already be over by this time next year.

So disappointed, the NRL really needs to do something to keep these players in our game, and now!!!

Can't blame Vuna for going after the coin, but as I said earlier, once McManus returns he'll be playing for the Centurians.
 
Of course James you cannot blame the man for going after the money to secure his and family's whole future. Who knows how we figured in our brains trust future thoughts? The Rebels seem to be so cashed up maybe there was no stopping them and only time will tell how successful a purchase he is.

Cannot really see him doing that turning, chasing, and kicking from within the twenty which was also bid Dell's problem with thew ra-ra lads.
 
I can see his reasoning, 3 first grade wingers in the squad of which he is probably 3rd choice. More money on offer and the guarentee of regular game time, I'd take it.
 
Exactly - You forget he is only 22 years old aswell, he looks much older and is so mature in the game.

He has played Union for most of his life and let's be honest, isn't going to make the NZ side anytime soon in League.

His aspirations are to play for the Wallabies in the WC - I hope he gets there and wish him all the best.

However, from a Knights point of view... I would hate to see McManus kept in Centurions... he is now our future along with Uate - we have to keep them both in the top grade.

If that means Coops misses out, then so be it.

If Stone always persists with Naiqama on the bench, maybe he can put Vuna there instead.
 
Probably best kept for another thread but has Australian Rugby Union bitten off more than it can chew? The have added the Western Force recently and now the Melbourne Rebels and they are more and more snapping up League players that aren't exactly stars. They are pushing expansion yet don't seem to have the talent pool to accomadate the extra teams.

Of course guys like Rogers and Sailor going to union were as much about publicity as playing talent but now Union is snapping up our guys who lets face it nobody in Rugby League is to concerned about. As much as we love Vuna he isn't essential to the game and isn't a star outside Newcastle and these seem to be the guys Union is targeting. We've previously seem Ryan Cross and Will Chambers switch codes along with numerous other guys that wont be missed in league and wont add to Union's crowd figures.

Maybe the ARU needs to look at the talent available to them rather than trying to fill extra teams with mid-range league players
 
If there overextending themselves and killing there own game, more power to them!!

Uate and McManus were always the future of the knights wing combination. Vuna was only playing this year because Jimmy was injured.
 
Judging by this follow up article in The Australian, Vuna has aspired to play top level rugby for a long time... seems like he kept it pretty close to his chest.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/vuna-springs-surprise-on-dad/story-e6frg7ox-1225870282900

If you want to play rugby, then play rugby. Go play for Gordon at Chatswood Oval in front of 200 people, and put in the hard work year after year until you're a Wallaby. He hasn't even played a game yet and he's talking about playing in the World Cup in just over a years time! How must this make a young rugby player feel, who's been working his guts out since he was 10 years old? Sure, Cooper played rugby until 15, but all the $$ investment and professional training comes after this age, supplied by the Warriors and Knights.

I'm sick of these young guys treating league like a pre-school. Our game (and our clubs) put in the money and years of training and nurturing, and for what? The Knights gave Cooper a lifeline contract, stuck by him during his injuries, and then the second he starts to repay our investment he's out the door.

People can say "we'll produce another one", but playing depth in the NRL is thinning every year, and if this keeps up, our playing level will be dragged down to the level of Union.

Cooper seems like a lovely young man, but at the end of the day he's used the Knights completely, and shown a lack of respect to the fans and club. Sure I might sound a bit harsh, but you can bet if it was going the other way, those union fans would be screaming bloody murder.

The Vuna case is probably unique because he sounds like he genuinely wanted to play union all along (although as I've said, he could have been a lot more up-front about it).

Still, the NRL need to really put there heads down and re-model the salary cap for next year, chiefly being a "softer" cap which includes exemptions for club juniors and long-serving players, and encouragement for third-party private investment (as long as everything is transparent).
 
More up front about it? If I'm not mistaken Vuna was playing Union when he was signed by the Knights. Essentially we did to Union exactly what they are now doing to us.
 
Knights signed him from Warriors, so yes, you are mistaken.

However we did sign Tafua and Natusch(iirc) from union.
 
Fair enough I'm wrong :fist:

Although the Warriors picked him up as a Union player did they not?

My basic point is Vuna isn't one of these guys who has played League all his life and then suddenly gone to play a game he has never played before
 
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