Warrington prop played Grand Final with '80 per cent vision'

The Warrington-born prop started in the front row in the 12-4 defeat to Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford – Wolves’ fourth Grand Final loss.

Wire’s Grand Final heartbreak as it happened

Post-match reaction from Steve Price

Match action photo gallery

Fans reaction and match facts

Wire fans at Old Trafford photo gallery

He came off in the semi-final victory over St Helens last week with an eye problem, but head coach Steve Price insisted he would be able to play without an issue.

However, Cooper revealed just how badly the problem had affected him but refused to use it as an excuse.

“I couldn’t see at all Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was an interesting few days with panic stations but I saw two specialists and we managed to get it right,” he said.

“I’ve still not got 100 percent vision but it was enough to play.

“I tore a cornea in the game, a lad’s fingers went through it.

“Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was pretty much bed bound.

“I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t see in the daylight.

“It was a good job this was a night game because the sunlight would have killed me.

“I couldn’t train at the start of the week really but it came good.

“There’s no excuses with that from my point of view, most players are carrying an injury at this time of year, my vision was probably 80 percent there.

“It was a little bit blurry, but it was never in doubt that I would play.”

Cooper’s last game of his first spell with Warrington was a defeat to the Warriors in the 2013 Grand Final before he joined St George Illawarra in the NRL, then coached by Price.

He admits a third Old Trafford defeat, having also featurd in the loss to Wigan in 2016, is “gutting” but highlighted the progress the club had made from their Middle 8s battle last year.

“Full credit to Wigan though I thought they defended their hearts out,” he said.

“It showed what it meant to them. It meant a lot to us but they came out on top tonight.

“It’s gutting, but we’ve made two finals this year. Last year we were close to getting relegated at one point.

“There’s a lot of positives to take but we’ve got a lot of work to do, especially with the ball to make sure we get over the line.

“We were confident right until the last minute we were going to get over the line and Toby King nearly scored at the end.

“But Wigan just defended their hearts out and we just didn’t have enough to break them.”

One of the game’s major talking points with the decision by referee Robert Hicks not to sin bin Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins for a pair of questionable challenges before half time.

He seemed to deliberately trip Bryson Goodwin before his sliding challenge shortly afterwards meant his knee made contact with the head of a grounded Daryl Clark.

Cooper said he thought the challenge on Clark was “bad” but admits he had only seen it live.

“The Referee’s got to make a call and he’ll be judged on that,” he said.

“I thought it was bad, but only from first impressions. I didn’t really see it in the replay.”