Former Australia coach Eddie Jones took plenty of parting shots on his way out of the role this week, with fly-half Quade Cooper being one of the players in the firing line. But Cooper has bitten back at the comments made by his former coach.
The 80-cap was one of the shock omissions from Jones’ World Cup squad alongside former captain Michael Hooper, and while Jones was evasive in giving a concrete reason as to why they were not picked before the tournament, listing reasons such as fitness, he was far more forthright recently now the World Cup is over and he has left his post with the Wallabies.
In a interview with the The Sydney Morning Herald last week, Jones suggested the likes of Cooper, Hooper and Bernard Foley were not good role models for a young squad, saying they were no longer “obsessed” with winning.
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“And for those guys,” the 63-year-old said. “I don’t think they were the right role models for the team going forward. Don’t get me wrong. They’re not bad guys.
“But you need guys – particularly when you’ve got a team like Australia has at the moment – you need guys who are obsessed with winning, obsessed with being good, and those three are past those stages.”
The 35-year-old responsed to those comments on Wednesday with a post on social media ahead of the new Japan Rugby League One season, where he referred to a “former coach” before going on to explain how he views winning and success.
He wrote: “Training camp 23/24 complete. Funny, this week my will and desire to win were questioned by a former coach. To me, the way I view winning and success is through preparation. No outcome is guaranteed, but what you can guarantee is the work and preparation you put in. You know that you have given yourself and your team the best possible opportunity to win. That’s where confidence is born.
“Confidence does not come from knowing the outcome; it comes from knowing that you’ve done the work, and you will have your own back regardless of the outcome.”
Training camp 23/24 complete. Funny, this week my will and desire to win were questioned by a former coach. To me, the way I view winning and success is through preparation. No outcome is guaranteed, but what you can guarantee is the work and preparation you put in. You know that… pic.twitter.com/TVOE9fOrzH
— Quade Cooper (@QuadeCooper) November 1, 2023
Cooper had briefly touched upon missing out on the World Cup on social media, but this is the first time he has responded to the recent comments made by Jones.
