Lionel Cooper

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This article is about the Australian rugby league player. For the mathematician named Lionel Cooper, see Lionel Cooper (mathematician).
Lionel Cooper
Personal information
Full name Lionel William Cooper
Born (1922-02-18)18 February 1922
Died 16 May 1987 (aged 64–65)
Cherrybrook, New South Wales
Playing information
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1945–46 Eastern Suburbs 27 14 0 0 42
1947–55 Huddersfield 333 420 42 0 1344
Total 360 434 42 0 1386
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1945–46 New South Wales 6 8 0 0 24
1946 Australia 3 2 0 0 6
1949–53 Other Nationalities 14 13 0 0 39
1954 Combined Nationalities 1 0 0 0 0
1952 British Empire XIII 3 2 0 0 6
Source: RLP

Lionel Cooper (1923–1987) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer of the 1940s and 1950s.[1] A state and international representative winger, he played in Sydney for the Eastern Suburbs club and in England for Huddersfield.

Australian career

After being spotted playing Australian Rules Football in a services team in Darwin by Ray Stehr in 1941 Cooper joined the Eastern Suburbs club. Stehr invited Cooper to trial with the Roosters following World War II.

A powerful winger, Cooper played in just 6 matches before gaining selection for New South Wales. Later that year Cooper was a member of Eastern Suburbs' 8th premiership-winning team. In 1946 Cooper represented for Sydney, New South Wales and Australia, he played in all three tests against the Great Britain Lions that year at home. Cooper also took out the 'NSW Player of the Year Award' in 1946.

The Gregory's reference describes him as a bullocking, bruising winger who was a great finisher of back-line movements. His hard-running style incorporated a hip-bumping technique to brush off defenders.[2]

British career

In 1947 he joined English club Huddersfield where he had 9 successful seasons - scoring 420 tries,[3] including 71 in the 1951–52 season, in one match that year, against Keighley, he scored a record 10 tries. Also joining Cooper were his friend Johnny Hunter, a spectacular full-back, and a little later Pat Devery, an Australian Test Player who played centre (in partnership with Cooper who was on the left wing).

Lionel Cooper continued to play Test rugby league whilst at Huddersfield, playing for 14 matches for the Other Nationalities in the International Championship between 1949 and 1953. He played for the British Empire XIII versus New Zealand on Wednesday 23/1/1952 at Stamford Bridge. He was in the Huddersfield team that beat St. Helens 15 - 10 in the 1953 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London kicking at least one goal after the regular goal kicker was injured.

Lionel Cooper played Left-Wing, i.e. number 5, in Huddersfield's 4-11 defeat by Bradford Northern in the 1949 Yorkshire Cup final during the 1949–50 season at Headingley Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 29 October 1949, and played Left-Wing, and scored 3-tries in the 18-8 victory over Batley in the 1952 Yorkshire Cup final during the 1952–53 season at Headingley Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 15 November 1952.

Lionel Cooper played Left-Wing, i.e. number 5 in Huddersfield's 2-20 defeat by Wigan in the Championship final during the 1949–50 season at Maine Road, Manchester on Saturday 13 May 1950.[4]

Lionel Cooper played Left-Wing, i.e. number 5 (Following a leg injury to Pat Devery, Lionel Cooper moved to Centre, i.e. number 4, and Pat Devery moved to Left-Wing, i.e. number 5; Lionel Cooper also took over the kicking duties from Pat Devery.[5]) and scored two conversions in Huddersfield's 15-10 victory over St. Helens in the 1952-53 Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 25 April 1953.[6]

Cooper's Testimonial match at Huddersfield took place in 1955.

Family

His brothers Col, Reg and Cec Cooper played with the Canterbury Bankstown club in Sydney, and Noel played for St George.

References

Bibliography

  • Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen The Encyclopedia Of Rugby League Players
  • Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
  • Pollard, Jack (ed) Gregory's Guide to Rugby League (1965), Grenville Publishing Sydney

Footnotes

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  6. ↑ McCorquodale, London S.E (25 April 1953). The Rugby League Challenge Cup Competition - Final Tie - Huddersfield v St. Helens - Match Programme. Wembley Stadium Ltd. ISBN n/a

External links

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