Michael Cooper (rugby league)

Michael Cooper (born 15 September 1988) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and loose forward for the Warrington Wolves in the Betfred Super League, and England Knights and England at international level.

Mike Cooper
Personal information
Full nameMichael Cooper
Born (1988-09-15) 15 September 1988
Warrington, Cheshire, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight17 st 0 lb (108 kg)[1][2]
Playing information
PositionProp, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–13 Warrington Wolves 122 8 0 0 32
2010(loan) → Castleford Tigers 6 2 0 0 8
2014–16 St. George Illawarra 69 3 0 0 12
2017– Warrington Wolves 103 10 0 0 40
Total 300 23 0 0 92
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–12 England Knights 4 0 0 0 0
2015–16 England 8 0 0 0 0
As of 17 December 2020
Source: [3][4]

He previously played for Warrington, and spent time away from the Wolves at the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. Cooper has also played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL.[3][4]

Background

Cooper was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England.

Early career

Born in Warrington, Cooper began his career with the Warrington Wolves when he was a part of an under-11s side who went through a whole season undefeated, winning the championship along the way. He continued through the junior ranks and eventually become part of the first team.

Warrington Wolves

He played in the 2012 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[5][6]

He played in the 2013 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.[7][8][9][10][11]

Castleford Tigers

He had a loan period at Castleford in 2010. While at Castleford he got some regular first team action, due to Castleford's injury situation. Cooper played for the England Knights in 2011 and 2012.

St. George Illawarra Dragons

St George Illawarra signed Cooper on a two-year deal. The Dragons agreed to a release fee with Warrington to sign the then 24-year-old, who had been under contract to the Wolves through until the end of the 2014 season.

St George Illawarra Dragons prop missed only one match during his début season in the NRL. Cooper played 14 games off the bench as an interchange prop and nine games starting on the run-on side. Cooper scored one try which came against the New Zealand Warriors in round 7, and in the same game made his only line-break. Cooper ended the season with an average of 44.2 minutes played per game. He also made 237 runs, and 2,058 metres. He has the best tackles to missed tackles ratio, with an average of 28.1 tackles a game, with only 0.9 missed.

After being selected in England's 2014 Four Nations squad, but not featuring in a match, McNamara selected him again for the 2015 end-of-year test series against New Zealand. In a test match beforehand, Cooper made his début for England in England's win over France.[12]

Warrington Wolves

In June 2016, it was announced that Cooper would be returning to Warrington on a 3-year deal for the start of the 2017 campaign.

He played in the 2018 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Catalans Dragons at Wembley Stadium.[13]

He played in the 2018 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.[14]

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final victory over St. Helens at Wembley Stadium.[15]

International career

In October 2016, Cooper was selected in England's 24-man squad for the 2016 Four Nations. Before the tournament began, he featured in England's test match against France.

References
  1. "The official Engage Super League web site". web page. Super League. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  2. "Profile at dragons.com.au". dragons.com.au. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Grand Final: Warrington 18-26 Leeds". BBC Sport. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  6. "Leeds' Kevin Sinfield stars in Grand Final triumph against Warrington". Guardian. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  7. "Super League Grand Final". Super League. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  8. Newsum, Matt (5 October 2013). "Super League Grand Final: Wigan Warriors beat Warrington". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  9. "Super League Grand Final: Warrington v Wigan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  10. "Warrington Wolves 16 Wigan Warriors 30". Daily Telegraph. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  11. "Wigan see off Warrington in X-rated Grand Final to complete double". Guardian. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  12. "England demolish France 84-4 in record win". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  13. "Catalans Dragons beat Warrington in Challenge Cup final to make history". Guardian. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  14. "Super League Grand Final 2018: Wigan 12-4 Warrington – as it happened". Guardian. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
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