September 26, 2017
The biggest moment of Gavin Cooper’s rugby league career could occur on Sunday night if the Cowboys overcome the Melbourne Storm in the NRL Grand Final.
The former Murgon Mustang will be running onto the paddock as the stand-in captain for North Queensland, in the absence of the injured Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott.
This means Cooper will get the joy of hoisting the NRL Trophy on the dais if the Cowboys win.
If this happens, it won’t be the first time that Cooper has captained the Cowboys to glory.
In 2014, he led the team to victory in the Auckland Nines, defeating the Brisbane Broncos in the final.
In 2015, his biggest career highlight to date occurred when he was part of the Cowboys’ NRL Grand Final team which defeated the Broncos 17-16.
He was selected to play for the Maroons in 2016-17.
Cooper’s brother Dustin, also born in Murgon, may have some divided loyalties while watching Sunday’s game … he played two seasons with the Melbourne Storm.
