Watching Mike Cooper perform so competently on the biggest stage raises a number of questions for me as to why we didn't see the best from him (or don't feel we did)..

Why was not able to perform at this level for us?

Are we overly critical of our own players / youngsters without giving them a chance?

Has he just got better because he's matured / played in a more intense comp?

Is the approach / culture at the club not geared to developing our youngsters effectively?

I suspect it's a mix of him being under pressure to perform at Wire, us not appreciating what we have and also him just getting better as he matures. He showed signs in his final few games for Wire as to what he was capable of.

I think it's just maturing over the past few years. Looking back over his games with us, he was never a bad or even average player, he was pretty damn good for his position. I think he started out with more agility and his footwork and offload game was a priority, whereas these days he seems to be a lot more focused in go forward and keeping those legs pumping. So for me it's just a change in his game that is obviously working better for him.

He was always a good player for us, and sometimes showed glimpses of what the future may hold ( Saints away in play-off semi couple of years back for instance ). Playing in NRL has upped his intensity levels, plus, the best props reach their peak at 28-32, so he's coming into his prime years.

Always had potential and it's not luck that was signed to the NRL.

Coupled with the fact that the pack he was learning from and trying to break into wasn't too shabby, having go at the NRL wasn't too much of a gamble at his age/stage of development

I thought Cooper was one our best forwards in 12/13. Underrated by most. His defence improved a lot under Smith but that could have just been him gaining experience and maturity. I was a big critic of his defence earlier in his career because he looked like where George King is about now. If king improves in a similar way then he will be very good for us.
I would love to see Mike Cooper back at Warrington but he wouldn't have had a sniff on an rep jersey whilst he was in SL.

Mike Cooper had 4 games for the England Knights during the 2011-12 season.

I think Chris Clarkson and Chris Riley were also in that England Knights squad. I like Cooper I just get the feeling that if was still at Warrington then Walmsley, Amor, Clubb and others would be in front of him for selection for the full England squad. Similar could be said for Josh Hodgson in that Danny Houghton and Shaun Lunt may have been picked ahead of him if he had not moved to the raiders. Fair play to them both for going down under and challenging themselves. Perhaps it was an overstatement to say he would not get a sniff of a jersey.

Walmsley would be in ahead of him now anyway if he wasn't injured. Amor and Clubb aren't international quality.

Cooper has improved a lot since going to the NRL. He looks fitter and stronger and he seems to have eradicated the errors from his game too. He used to perform well for us but you could guarantee there would be the odd missed tackle and handling error just around the corner. Pleased to see him doing so well.

It's arguable I agree that Walmsley is the better player, but, given the propensity to pick players 'hardened' by playing in the NRL then I think Cooper would be selected ahead of him anyway. Now that he's performed so well it will be tough to drop him for anyone other than a player in the same situation - probably one or other of Sam or George Burgess.

Walmsley doesn't make many tackles. He was only 41st in tackles made in the league last season and missed over double the amount of tackles of Chris Hill.

Walmsley would seriously need to adjust his attitude to conditioning to get a go in the NRL.

I don't think he would, he'd get an NRL contract now. He was offered NRL deals before signing his current Saints contract and before last season, which was by far his best.

[url=http://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12040/9806922/alex-walmsley-agrees-a-new-contract-with-st-helensWalmsley agrees a new contract with St Helens[/url

When Walmsley came to Saints he was as raw as they come. Since then the improvement in his game has been remarkable, including his fitness. He was an absolute auto-pick for this series (In the Dream Team and voting for MOS) and if he continues to improve he will definitely be in the squad for the Four Nations next season. Whether he'd get in the 17 would depend where McNamara played the Burgi. Graham and Hill are 8 and 10, then if you pick all the Burgi in the front row there is no space for Walmsley or Cooper (And he might have to if SOL is still England captain next year). At best both are playing for the third bench prop spot if all the others are fit.

Walmsley is a cracking player but misses a lot of tackles which seems to be down to a fitness thing. He misses twice as many as hill with a negligible increase in average metres made. Certainly good enough for England but needs to be able to defend as well as he takes it up.

Easy I think we should play Burgess at centre.

Cooper would be in there over walmsley for me. His overall game is better he runs very hard and is defensively better than walms.

Said to my day at the France game he's a lot bigger than when he left us.

We've had great success with what we have this tournament there's only g burgess that would actually improve the forwards walmsley wouldn't.

Cooper going to the NRL has really kicked his career on as it has for Josh hodgson i think super league is full of players that could go over and kick on players like walmsley Scott Taylor Liam watts (all forwards though) but after watching Tyrone McCarthy all season i don't see him making a big impact like most of the recent brits that have gone over