Former St George Illawarra Dragons, New South Wales Blues and Australian Kangaroos star centre Matt Cooper is reportedly in talks with Shane Flanagan over returning to the club in a specialist coaching capacity next year.
Flanagan will take over as head coach at the club in his return to the NRL clipboard next year in what will be his third stint at the Dragons, having previously served as an assistant coach and recruitment consultant.
The former premiership-winning coach takes over from Anthony Griffin, who was sacked in the middle of the year, and has already confirmed his fulltime assistant coaching staff will be current interim coach Ryan Carr, and the returning Dean Young, who leaves the North Queensland Cowboys.
Young originally applied for the fulltime job that Griffin was awarded at the Red V, having served as the interim coach following the sacking of Paul McGregor.
Flanagan's reshaping of the Dragons both on and off the field is set to continue though, with Wide World of Sports reporting that Cooper could be in line for a return to the Dragons.
"I'm having conversations with Flanno about maybe helping out next year, which would be great because I think can help the outside backs, especially in defence," Cooper told the publication.
He suggested an appointment could be confirmed before the start of pre-season.
Cooper has been public in his displeasure over the Dragons this season, imploring the club to employ him in a specialist centres coaching role, while other issues around promised jobs led to bad blood between Cooper and the Dragons, with the centre snubbing a ten-year premiership reunion.
Playing nearly 250 NRL games during his career, Cooper was often regarded as the best defensive centre in the game during his tenure.
Known for a no-nonsense attitude on the field, his defence carried him as a club and representative footballer, where he formed a long-term partnership at all levels of the game with Mark Gasnier.
His defensive reputation could well see him wind up working with a number of juniors at the struggling Dragons next year, as well as established first graders including Moses Suli, Zac Lomax and the Feagai brothers.
The Dragons have struggled with edge defence exceptionally throughout 2023, and there would be a hope from Flanagan and his new set up that a player such as Cooper could make major indents into the issues the Dragons have faced this season which currently leave the joint-venture sitting in 16th place on the table.
