Quade Cooper was meant to go to the Olympics as part of the Australian rugby sevens team at Rio in 2016, only to be deemed ineligible because he didn’t have an Australian passport – despite having played more than 50 games for the Wallabies.
Nearly 10 years on, the New Zealand-born Cooper is eyeing an opportunity to get to the Games at last – this time as the quarterback for the Australian flag football team, where he could line up across from the likes of Justin Jefferson or Brock Purdy after the NFL gave the green light for its players to try out for the US team.
Former Wallaby Quade Cooper has his eyes set on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.Credit: Getty Images
Cooper, who is currently playing rugby in Japan – and has since acquired an Australian passport – is the Australian quarterback in flag football, the five-a-side American football variant which will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.
The two-time World Cup medallist will be 40 by then, but he doesn’t see age as a barrier to finally getting that Olympic debut.
“Where I’m at right now, I could play rugby for another two or three years quite easily if I wanted to. That’s because I look after myself very well physically. But the sports are so different,” Cooper said.
“Rugby is a physically demanding sport where you’re taking hits, and you’re taking a lot of collisions and hits not just in a game but daily at training. The sport that we’re talking about here is a sport that has zero collisions … it’s a lot different when you’re trying to dodge and get out of the way of someone trying to take your head off as opposed to someone trying to come in and rip a tag off.”
As an NFL fan, Cooper would relish in the opportunity to face off against some of its biggest stars.
“I’m obviously a fan of NFL, but stepping on the field, you’re going out there to compete, and you want to compete against the best guys,” he said.
“So, whether that’s in rugby union when we play against the All Blacks, it was always one of the most exciting games that you look forward to because you’re playing against the best in the world … the excitement is about going out there and competing, not necessarily the individual that you’re playing against.”
Cooper believes securing cross-code talent would help Australia bridge the gap to a team such as the US, who are ranked No.1 in the world in mens and women’s.
“NRL, rugby union and AFL – these types of sports that are very similar – have been around for a longer period of time, they’ve been earning money and paying athletes for a lot longer than a sport like flag football,” Cooper said.
“So, the development of the player, a lot of the hard work is already done. So I think in these infancy stages of flag football, it would be great to be able to see NRL players, AFL guys, everybody joining in to be able to help grow the sport, and then eventually you’d just like to see obviously flag football have its own professional league and be able to take from its own talent pool.”
Cooper heads to the US next month as part of the Australian team that will play in an invitational tournament, but his future beyond that is up in the air.
“I feel like I could play [rugby] another three years if I wanted – easily. Now, do I want to do that? I’m not sure yet. I haven’t decided if I want to continue playing or if I want to retire or if I want to take up another sport full-time, I just haven’t decided that at this minute,” he said.
“We’ve got a break coming up from June 1, so that’ll be me being able to decide what I want to do, and that’s why being able to go and play flag football, it’s a really important time for me because it will help me make my decision on what I want to do next.”
