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Sonny Bill Williams will only play in the NRL next year if Quade Cooper is beside him
The Sunday Telegraph has learned Williams and Cooper will now come as a package deal, such is the desire of the two stars to play together.
While Williams has long been linked to the Roosters, he has never publicly said which club he is joining - nor has he signed any NRL contract.
Cooper, whose stunning attack on the ARU has signalled the end of his Wallabies career, has suddenly become an integral part of any deal Williams does sign for 2013.
Williams revealed this month that he was attempting to lure Cooper to the NRL next year, and he was obviously aware of the Wallabies five-eighth's issues with Australian rugby when he backed him to succeed in a code switch.
In an extraordinary outburst, Cooper has jeopardised a $2.25 million deal in Australian rugby by openly criticising the national team environment and lack of quality facilities.
In June, Cooper signed a deal to remain with Queensland for the next three years, and with the binding ARU top-up contract he will have earned an estimated $750,000 a year until 2015, when the next World Cup is in England.
But that, and his ambition to play against the British and Irish Lions next year, has virtually been washed down the drain after the ARU alluded to pulling the offer following Cooper's comments.
Sonny Bill Williams will only play in the NRL next year if Quade Cooper is beside him
The Sunday Telegraph has learned Williams and Cooper will now come as a package deal, such is the desire of the two stars to play together.
While Williams has long been linked to the Roosters, he has never publicly said which club he is joining - nor has he signed any NRL contract.
Cooper, whose stunning attack on the ARU has signalled the end of his Wallabies career, has suddenly become an integral part of any deal Williams does sign for 2013.
Williams revealed this month that he was attempting to lure Cooper to the NRL next year, and he was obviously aware of the Wallabies five-eighth's issues with Australian rugby when he backed him to succeed in a code switch.
In an extraordinary outburst, Cooper has jeopardised a $2.25 million deal in Australian rugby by openly criticising the national team environment and lack of quality facilities.
In June, Cooper signed a deal to remain with Queensland for the next three years, and with the binding ARU top-up contract he will have earned an estimated $750,000 a year until 2015, when the next World Cup is in England.
But that, and his ambition to play against the British and Irish Lions next year, has virtually been washed down the drain after the ARU alluded to pulling the offer following Cooper's comments.
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