neafl article

COOPER GEARS UP
FOR 250TH GAME By Matthew Tucker
Stafford Cooper plays his 250th AFL Canberra match
on Saturday, but the Demon champion says he
derives more satisfaction from the experiences he’s
gained over a long career than reaching numerical
milestones.
“EASTLAKE HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY
FANTASTIC TO ME AND I HAVE REALLY
ENJOYED MY TIME AT THE CLUB.
WHEN I’M LOOKING BACK AT MY DAYS
PLAYING FOOTBALL I’LL HAVE GREAT
MEMORIES OF MY TIME AT EASTLAKE.”
“It may sound like a bit of a cliché, but I haven’t
thought about it much,” Cooper said. “It’s just a
privilege to play at Eastlake and whether it’s 250
games, 100 games or whatever, to have been here for
as long as I have, has just been a remarkable journey
and experience.
“I’ve met some amazing people and I couldn’t
have asked for anything more in my career. I’ve
had injuries, I’ve lost grand finals, I’ve had down
points but I wouldn’t change a thing because it’s an
amazing place. If I could do it all again and go back
to the start and do it again I would.”
But Cooper’s resume stretches far beyond his humble
outlook - with a Mulrooney Medal, being named
All-Australian three times at the Australian Country
Football Championships, 5 Best and Fairest’s and 4
R/U Best and Fairest’s.
The Demons face a tough task in toppling the rising
young GIANTS team, who will be gunning for a big
win against Eastlake. Eastlake’s cause hasn’t been
helped with major injuries within the senior playing
group, but Cooper remains confident ahead of the
clash.
“Obviously not the start to the season that we
were looking for,” Cooper said. “The team is staying
positive and we are working hard on the things that
we can control. There’s been a real focus this week to
get the little things right and if we can manage to do
that and churn out four quality quarters of football
we’ll be tough to beat on any given weekend.”
With Cooper’s milestone, the Demons will have
plenty to play for, but Cooper says emotion itself
wouldn’t be enough to get the job done.
“You’ve still got to go out and do what you normally
do. I think we’ve got maybe a wave of emotion that’s
going to help us but it’s more than that. You’ve got
to get out and play hard football and emotion only
goes so far.”
Despite all of Cooper’s individual honours, he still
has zero premierships next to his name, which cuts
deep. This weekend will be a great test to the entire
Eastlake NEAFL team, and will be sure to separate the
pretenders from the contenders.
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