Quote Gazwire="Gazwire"Cooper, I imagine, has an extremely high standing amongst the players given his playing record and years at Warrington as a Warringtonian. I imagine he was one of the leaders and probably top dog amongst players meaning he would have a big influence on players' attitudes at the club.
Given his quality and Warrington connection, I wonder why Powell wanted rid? He could have been a positive catalyst for change and been a leader to help Powell establish a more professional, achieving culture given our poor recent record.
In light of the above, I wonder how significant Cooper's omission was in terms of the game and the manner of victory, and the timing of Coooer's move to Wigan, one week after the victory mid-season? Is this all a coincidence? It maybe minor. It may be major. But there's something in it (for me).'"
I have no idea of the truth behind the comings and goings within the club, with Cooper being no exception. He has given us great service in the P&B for several seasons, and I just gather it's time for both player and club to move on. I find it harsh that some posters have made knee jerk good riddance comments to someone who's put their body on the line for our club, supporters and the game. Maybe, it's because he's signed for Wigan, and there's some feeling of him being a traitor amongst our ranks.
I'm not aiming these comments at you, GW, but will respond in respect of whether Cooper being left out against Catalans had a positive effect on our performance. Perhaps it did, but we were gifted three of our six tries through two fumbles close to their own line, and a loose pass that bounced perfectly into Thewlis's hands, and we played against a very weakened team. You can only play what's in front of you, and we were more positive than of late. If we can back it up against Castleford, it will give more credence to your comment, and belief that we are turning a corner. If we can look after the short term and pull away from that relegation spot, it will make us all more comfortable to look forward to a year from now, and properly assess that large turnaround in player staff we've had, over what appears to be a very frantic time in our history.