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SONNY Bill Williams will only play in the NRL next year if Quade Cooper is beside him, with the pair looking certain to be in the same team, whether it be league or union.
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.
Cooper has had the offer in front of him for months.
Williams and Cooper have the same agent, Khoder Nasser, which makes it easy for the pair to be sold as a package.
There is no doubt a bidding war will now ensue to secure the services of the superstar pair, who have helped rugby viewership and attendances soar in the past two years. Williams is playing for Japanese side Panasonic Wild Knights, and his tenure expires in January. Cooper comes off his ARU contract on January 1.
It is understood if Williams and Cooper cannot be accommodated by an NRL club they will look to European rugby.
"I reckon (Cooper) would be a huge success; he has definitely got the skill-set to play the 13-man game," Williams said earlier this month. "The biggest difference is in rugby you are playing on the advantage line, whereas in league the defence is 10m back. Imagine what he could do with that extra space."Cooper's issues with the Wallabies seems irreparable.
The playmaker is close to Wallabies teammates James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale, Digby Ioane and Ben Tapuai.
This group has riled senior Wallabies players and officials, who believe they are disrespectful and afforded leniency.
Cooper is miffed that the defensive game plans from Wallabies coach Robbie Deans don't gel with his instinctive attacking style and that the national team trains at dilapidated venues such as Leichhardt Oval's small gymnasium.
Cooper, who undergoes knee surgery on Tuesday, told Fox Sports' The Rugby Club last Thursday he felt so strongly he would not have played for Australia if picked this week.
"Well, no, because the environment there is one I don't feel comfortable with, and if I don't feel comfortable and I don't feel I can give 100 per cent for my country and that yellow jersey, then that's a very big problem," Cooper said.
"For me to continue to improve as a player and as a person, you want to be in a good environment. I feel that environment is destroying me as a person and as a player, so that I can't do the best I can do to represent my country."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226484466400
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.
Cooper has had the offer in front of him for months.
Williams and Cooper have the same agent, Khoder Nasser, which makes it easy for the pair to be sold as a package.
There is no doubt a bidding war will now ensue to secure the services of the superstar pair, who have helped rugby viewership and attendances soar in the past two years. Williams is playing for Japanese side Panasonic Wild Knights, and his tenure expires in January. Cooper comes off his ARU contract on January 1.
It is understood if Williams and Cooper cannot be accommodated by an NRL club they will look to European rugby.
"I reckon (Cooper) would be a huge success; he has definitely got the skill-set to play the 13-man game," Williams said earlier this month. "The biggest difference is in rugby you are playing on the advantage line, whereas in league the defence is 10m back. Imagine what he could do with that extra space."Cooper's issues with the Wallabies seems irreparable.
The playmaker is close to Wallabies teammates James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale, Digby Ioane and Ben Tapuai.
This group has riled senior Wallabies players and officials, who believe they are disrespectful and afforded leniency.
Cooper is miffed that the defensive game plans from Wallabies coach Robbie Deans don't gel with his instinctive attacking style and that the national team trains at dilapidated venues such as Leichhardt Oval's small gymnasium.
Cooper, who undergoes knee surgery on Tuesday, told Fox Sports' The Rugby Club last Thursday he felt so strongly he would not have played for Australia if picked this week.
"Well, no, because the environment there is one I don't feel comfortable with, and if I don't feel comfortable and I don't feel I can give 100 per cent for my country and that yellow jersey, then that's a very big problem," Cooper said.
"For me to continue to improve as a player and as a person, you want to be in a good environment. I feel that environment is destroying me as a person and as a player, so that I can't do the best I can do to represent my country."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226484466400
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