I said that to him on the phone, and I remember he got the s with that, we ended up having a big argument. Two guys never to play with him again. Even saying things, I started to realise when you've got a little bit of power, you think, 'I'm not going to get pushed around anymore'.
You've got fans and people that hate you, but when you start speaking out, that's magnified again. That Richie McCaw stuff, that just turned a whole nation against me. Question Did you knee him in the head on purpose? The thing is, the stuff that happens on a footy field, that's so small. I've been punched in the head, kneed in the head, all that stuff, but it was who you did it to.
Already, I was a Kiwi boy playing for Australia, so they [were] already hating on me to start with and then I go and knee the captain of the All Blacks, untouchable, in the head. That's even worse. I couldn't walk anywhere , I couldn't go anywhere. Things like that.
I went from being well known to the most well known and the most hated. It was crazy. I was basically I had no protection from the ARU, from the coaches, no one came out and protected me, except for my nanna. To come back to that same level I was brought back too early. I was limping around on one leg, my leg was like a toothpick, there was no muscle on it so there's no control on it, and I had no confidence.
I didn't step off it for two years. Now I've got no issues with it but going back then I shouldn't have been playing. Same with the Richie, I was trying so hard to block it out. People say 'do you just block it out, the boos and things like that' and you say 'yeah I can't even hear it'. When you're on the field, that stuff is so clear, people don't realise it.
If someone yells out something in the crowd, they might be in row and you hear it dead clear. A lot of these guys were not playing or on the bench, or they were still playing and they wanted the say, but the majority of the guys were our age and we'd come through winning the comp.
There was always disagreements, it was a nightmare, and that's when I said the environment was toxic, because I didn't like how it was making me feel because everyone was just arguing. I said, 'I don't know if I can play', they said, 'No you're sweet, you can get surgery next week in the week off, this is the last game and we need to win it. I went into the game and I couldn't really kick becuase every time I kicked that bit of cartilage would get stuck in my joint.
At the end of the game, we won the game, and in the media announcement Robbie said to the media 'If we had a reserve to bring on all our boys got injured , I would have hooked Quade. Not in those words but I basically said that. Cooper also talked about dealing with New Zealand fans who viewed him as a traitor, especially after he kneed All Black captain Richie McCaw in the head during a Bledisloe Cup game in Already, I was a Kiwi boy playing for Australia, so they [were] already hating on me to start with and then I go and knee the captain of the All Blacks, untouchable, in the head.
That's even worse. I couldn't walk anywhere , I couldn't go anywhere. A scrum penalty offered Cooper another three points that built a half-time lead — their first in seven Tests this year. Hodge then put up a bomb to give away possession in the final minute, but they rescued it with another strong scrum to set up the fairytale finish.
This article is more than 1 month old. Wallabies beat Springboks on the Gold Coast Returning Cooper kicks perfect seven from seven penalties.
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