U23
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
QUADE Cooper has admitted he almost switched to rugby league three years ago after Matthew Johns compared him to star NRL playmaker Benji Marshall.
Johns, a former Australia Test rugby league five-eighth and now a television personality, was a guest coach at a Queensland Reds training session in 2007 and was so impressed with Cooper's skill he organised a meeting with his old team, the Newcastle Knights.
A contract was drawn up, but Cooper changed his mind and decided to stay in rugby union.
Cooper, who was named at five-eighth in the Wallabies team to play Fiji in Canberra on Saturday, said: "Matty Johns did a session with us at the Reds. He thought I could be pretty good at rugby league. He said the way I ball-played reminded him of Benji Marshall. It was a big rap from a guy like Matty Johns.
"I looked at it as an option, but I wasn't ready to leave rugby union. I hadn't achieved a lot. I didn't have the best year with the Reds.
"I was just starting to find my feet in rugby. I wanted to take on the challenge and improve. Hopefully, now it's starting to pay off."
I don't watch a lot of Union, but Quade is definitely an excitement machine. He's got plenty of skills, go on youtube and watch his recent cut out flick pass. Amazing stuff.
Shame about it all though.