Robert Cooper (31 August 1955 – 9 December 2022) was an Australian professional footballer. He played rugby league in the New South Wales Rugby League. In 1982, Cooper was suspended for the equal-longest period in rugby league history.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Cooper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 31 August 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 December 2022 (aged 67) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cooper played rugby league for Western Suburbs Magpies and North Sydney Bears and, in 1980, was selected in the New South Wales team for the inaugural game in the State of Origin.[3] He played primarily in the back row. Cooper was named in the Western Suburbs Magpies Team of the Eighties, in the second-row.[4]
In 1982, Cooper was suspended for the equal-longest period in rugby league history, of fifteen months, after he ran in to join a brawl and left three Illawarra Steelers players flattened during a match at Wollongong showground. When imposing the suspension, the NSW Rugby League judiciary chairman, Jim Comans said, "Acts such as these must be obliterated from the game, and I'll begin by obliterating you."[5]
In 1983, Cooper played Australian rules football with St George in the Sydney Football League and won the reserve competition's best and fairest award.[6]
In 1984, Cooper returned to the NSW Rugby League with North Sydney but, after only four games, he dislocated his shoulder and retired from football.
Cooper died from cancer on 9 December 2022, at the age of 67.[7][8]
References
edit
- ^ Rugby League Project
- ^ Yesterday's Hero
- ^ "State Of Origin – Game 1, 1980". Rugby League Tables. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- ^ "VEST, KEATO, COGGER ALL HONOURED". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ "No such thing as a free punch". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 August 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- ^ Mack, John (4 December 1983). "Cooper kicks off with a new outlook". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 47. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "The Mole: Former Magpies hardman Bob Cooper dies aged 67". wwos.nine.com.au.
- ^ Bailey, Scott (10 December 2022). "League hardman Bob Cooper dies aged 67".
 | This rugby league football biography relating to an Australian born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |