Wests Archive would like to sincerely thank Bob’s wife, Colleen Cooper, for generously contributing her time and information in the preparation of this profile.
Bob Cooper grew up in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe. He was a tall athletic player that had some success at rugby union and Australian Rules. However it was rugby league where he excelled. He played eight seasons with Wests and reached his peak through the Roy Masters years.
Bob was an impact player and could break a line as well as finishing off a move. He was used very much in that manner in his early career. Bob had the unusual record of coming off the bench in First Grade eight times in the period 1977 to 1979 before making his First Grade debut in a starting line-up.
Many Wests supporters will remember Bob as a dynamic and exciting player. Those that knew him off the field would describe as a quiet gentle family man.
Unfortunately some will remember him from an incident in a match against Illawarra in 1982. Bob came in to assist his second row partner Paul Merlo who was on the receiving end of some illegal play. In a matter of seconds, three Illawarra players were on the ground, some with serious injury.
Illawarra’s Greg Cook and Bob Cooper were sent off over the incident. Cook was subsequently exonerated while Bob received a 15 month suspension. This effectively truncated his rugby league career.
Bob’s rugby league career can be best described in the following quote by Han Suyin;
“We are all products of our time, vulnerable to history.”
Bob certainly was a product of his time but his career was vulnerable to the events that occurred one day in June 1982 at a suburban football ground in Wollongong and the fall out that followed. Nevertheless, Bob’s ability as a football player will be his legacy. This was celebrated by his selection in Wests Team of the Eighties.
