He is 33.
34 in September.

Not that it makes any difference.

But he is playing for us now so why isn't he leading our team around the pitch now?

Still very torn on this. Interview with Powell on Cooper leaving here.

rlhttps://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/daryl-powell-mike-cooper-wigan-24174087?utm_source

Going in a different direction = Backwards

And while Cooper may be getting on, Kasiano and Dudson are both 31, 32 when them arrive. So it’s not about longevity.

Re: external business commitments, that would not (in a well run organisation) be signed off by a coach. So the change from Price to Powell should not have an impact on that unless the impact is that Powell’s nose is out of joint.

It’s widely accepted by those with eyes in their heads that we had a 2 man pack for years, Cooper and Hill. It fell to bits when they went off. So… we get rid of them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not Morley and Peacock, but there are very few tried and tested good props around. So instead of keeping the ones we have, that work, we ship them out and bring in journeymen and imports, of a similar age.

If we had signed some proper replacement to cover the 50+ minutes of effective work that both Hill and Cooper delivered consistently, I wouldn’t be concerned, but we have got Kasiano (great for 25-40 minutes), Dudson (no comment required), Philbin (effective for 25-40 minutes), Mikaele (untried and unproven, could be Sita reincarnated) Bullocks (bang average) and potentially Mulhearn, who somehow is the best of the pack.

We need change, to get a group of men who are capable of getting to finals, to WIN them. That was the job. If the players have too much influence on when they train, as set out above, that would (should) have been signed off at executive level. There is NO CHANGE at executive level, so those bad decisions have not been addressed. If the CEO has agreed with Cooper re his side business, then the CEO should honour that. If decisions of the CEO are failing the company, then the CEO should pay the price for those poor decisions.

To go from nearly men, to nearly bottom, is not acceptable. There’s cracking a few eggs for the omelette and there’s just tipping the carton upside down

If we win a GF in 3 years, Powell will be justified. If we don't, I won't be thinking "bet Cooper would've won it for us" I'll probably just think he gets added to the list of manager who aint done it. But it's not for want of trying change.

Cooper is basically the last remnant of a good pack which consisted of ,over time, Morley, Carvell , Wood , the Anderson's , Rauhihi ,Westwood ,Waterhouse &, the last to go , Hill. We had journeymen backs ,hookers who wanted to be halfbacks & vice versa & the ex GB coach who delivered for Leeds but couldn't do it for us. We still couldn't rise to the occasion & have dwindled steadily over ten years ,becoming a graveyard for coaches & supporters gate receipts alike. Perhaps our ingrained club culture is what needs the kick up the booty. We are going backwards at a rate of knots.

Cooper is right at the very end of a great career with Warrington, but he’ll be 34 before he makes a tackle for Wigan so he’s nearly done. Wish him well and move on guys. Strong rumour we’ve also signed Vaughn and McGuire from the NRL so the clear out continues apace. All good….

Hill and Cooper in the pack repeatedly failed to win the GF.
Our recruitment for 2023 is not done yet. Let's see.

Josh McGuire is 32, will be 33 in March, is currently injured and has only played in about 5 or 6 games all year. Good player, a touch on the dirty side, but I wouldn’t think his best days are in front of him.

Vaughan is a big guy, but again, 30’s. Tough to judge in a Bulldogs team that are so poor, but seems to plod on ok. Think better value for money may be Vaughan on this, but not exciting.

That’s what I’m concerned about! We weren’t quite good enough, but instead we are flooding the team full of has-beens and Cas old boys. Chayse Blair and James Clare will be coming next

What would we have thought had we kept Cooper at 34 and by doing so Vaughan went to Wigan? Would that have been a good result? I’d have looked on enviously had that been the case.

Wigan fans may have been envious when they retained Ben Flower while we signed Roy Asotasi to be fair, but we know how that went. Aussie props aren’t always the best investment, but with Cooper we know what we have, what condition and that he turns in a shift. 12 months on reduced terms with an option would have been a good deal all round

Thing is we can't criticise Powell on getting nothing out of the current players AND criticise him when he tries to change the players. Powell believes Cooper has gone stale. Maybe it's his 10% missed tackle stats, maybe it's the clothing business, maybe it's his age, maybe his attitude - we just don't know.

We can judge Powell in 2023.

Yeah we have a bloke who’s seemingly more interested in selling bob hats than training for his hometown club. Backing Powell 100% here.