Matt Cooper (rugby league)
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Personal information
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| Full name | Matthew Cooper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
18 April 1979 Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia |
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Playing information
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| Height | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 98 kg (15 st 6 lb; 216 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: RLP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matt Cooper (born 18 April 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative centre, he played his entire National Rugby League career for the St George Illawarra Dragons, with whom he won the 2010 NRL grand final.
Born in Port Kembla, New South Wales, Cooper originally gained an interest in rugby league while watching and supporting Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies, the club his father followed. He began playing rugby league at the age of six for his local junior side, the Shellharbour Sharks, while also enjoying athletics and being actively involved with his local surf club with his close cousin Corey.
After moving to Illawarra, Cooper began supporting the Illawarra Steelers. Cooper was originally signed on to the Illawarra Steelers club as a teenager prior to their merger with the St. George Dragons at the end of 1998. He made his debut for the merged St George Illawarra club in 2000.
After the merger of the St George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers clubs in 1999, Cooper was signed on with the new St. George Illawarra Dragons team, quickly impressing club officials and at the age of twenty-one being awarded his NRL début in the opening round of the 2000 season against local rivals the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, he had an uneventful début without managing to score.
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