Dustin Cooper (born 8 May 1981) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who last played for

Lézignan Sangliers Lézignan may refer to: In geography: * Lézignan, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, France * Lézignan-Corbières, a commune in the Aude department, France * Lézignan-la-Cèbe, a commune in the Hérault departme ...

in the French

Elite One Championship Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions ...

, the Boston 13s in the

USA Rugby League The USA Rugby League (formally the US Association of Rugby League, Inc.) is the national governing body for rugby league in the United States. The organization is responsible for running the domestic club competitions and the United State ...

. He returned to league after a two-year stint in

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

with

Toyota Verblitz Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporat ...

in the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

.Herald Sun

Early life

Cooper was educated at Murgon State High School. He played junior rugby league for Murgon Mustangs, before moving to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Before joining the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

, Cooper played with

Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisbane R ...

in the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in Brisbane Rugby League (2001), 2001, kno ...

A-Grade competition, ending the 2002 season as the leading points scorer.

Rugby League career

Cooper made his debut in the NRL with the

where he played the 2003 and 2004 seasons on the . He then moved to

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

in 2005-2006, starting as a fullback but eventually filling the utility role. In 2005, Cooper was one of 11 players fined by Newcastle for misconduct after a pre-season game in Bathurst. It was alleged that some of the Newcastle players had broken curfew to visit dormitories at Charles Sturt University. It was reported that one of the players had jumped on a student as she slept in her bed and touched her inappropriately. One of the Newcastle players

Dane Tilse Dane Tilse (born 24 January 1985, in Scone, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. He previously played for the Canberra Raiders in the Nationa ...

was deregistered by the NRL for 12 months. Cooper played 14 games for Newcastle in the

2005 NRL season The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Tels ...

as the club finished last on the table. In 2007 and 2008, Cooper played with

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

in the second row, finishing his NRL career at the end of the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The sea ...

. He returned to league in 2011 with the Pia Donkeys, where he played in the second row. In 2012, Cooper began playing five-eighth for the

Boston Thirteens The Boston Bears (former known as Boston 13s RLFC) are a rugby league football team based in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. The team plays in the USA Rugby League, and were founding members of the former North American Rugby League. The Boston Thir ...

in the USARL and helped them to win a national championship in 2015.

Rugby Union career

Cooper played as a centre/winger for Toyota Verblitz 2009-2011, in the Japan Top League, and was selected in the Japan Top League All Stars match 2011. He is also an inaugural member of the Asia Pacific Barbarians, participating in the annual

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

rugby tens Rugby tens, also known as ten-a-side and Xs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of ten players, typically five forwards and five backs. Matches are much shorter, usually played as two ten-minute halves. Unlike the other tw ...

tournament in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Dustin 1981 births Living people Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Baroudeurs de Pia XIII players Boston Bears (rugby league) players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France Australian expatriate rugby union players in Japan Lézignan Sangliers players Melbourne Storm players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league players from Queensland Rugby league second-rows Rugby union players from Queensland Toyota Verblitz players United States national rugby league team coaches People from Murgon Footballers who switched code 21st-century Australian sportsmen