Girl who made Quade Cooper cry
Girl who made Quade Cooper cry
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Childhood friends ... Quade Cooper and (inset) Cheyenne Campbell. Source: The Daily Telegraph
WALLAROOS centre Cheyenne Campbell is the rugby player who used to reduce Wallabies attacking ace Quade Cooper to tears.
The pair of footballing cousins grew up together in Tokoroa, a town in the Waikato region of New Zealand, where they honed their rugby skills playing against each other.
"Our families are very close. We'd all just have our muck around in the yard playing rugby," Campbell said. "It was me, my younger brother Hosea, Quade and a few cousins. I'd like to think he picked up a few things from me."
And in those games she used to have the measure of her younger cousin Cooper, who has kicked on from those humble beginnings to become the magician in the Reds and Wallabies backlines.
"I think I used to make a few of those boys cry actually," she admitted. "He's got a lot faster and bigger since then so I don't know how we'd go now."
Even in those matches Cooper displayed the kind of skills that have become his trademark today to bamboozle opposition defences.
"He was always trying things in the backyard and they become part of you, I guess," Campbell said.
"He adds that creative flair, the attacking ability that I think all teams need."
When Campbell and her family migrated to Queensland in 1999, the Coopers followed soon after. And their arrival has certainly boosted Australia's rugby stocks.
While Cooper has clearly established himself as the Wallabies No .1 five-eighth, Campbell is set to make her own mark after being called into the Wallaroos squad for this month's World Cup in England. The 23-year-old caught the eye of selectors when crowned player of the tournament at the National Womens Championships in June while playing for Queensland.
"We have different strengths, but some of the freaky things he does you wish you could do-the flick pass and all ," she said.
Cooper does not dispute his cousin's account of the games they used to play together back in New Zealand.
And he spoke to Campbell before she went into camp with the Wallaroos squad prior to them flying to England on Sunday with some words of encouragement.
"I am very proud of her, she has worked hard for everything she has achieved," Cooper said.
Wallaroos coach John Manenti said Campbell was well on track to follow Cooper's path by making her Test debut this month.
"She is a very strong defender and physically she is very dominating at the breakdown," Manenti said.
"She is more a ballrunner than ballplayer and is being rewarded for working really hard on her strength and conditioning."
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