“So, whether that’s in rugby union when we play against the All Blacks, it was always one of the most exciting games that you look forward to because you’re playing against the best in the world ... the excitement is about going out there and competing, not necessarily the individual that you’re playing against.”

Cooper believes securing cross-code talent would help Australia bridge the gap to a team such as the US, who are ranked No.1 in the world in mens and women’s.

“NRL, rugby union and AFL – these types of sports that are very similar – have been around for a longer period of time, they’ve been earning money and paying athletes for a lot longer than a sport like flag football,” Cooper said.

“So, the development of the player, a lot of the hard work is already done. So I think in these infancy stages of flag football, it would be great to be able to see NRL players, AFL guys, everybody joining in to be able to help grow the sport, and then eventually you’d just like to see obviously flag football have its own professional league and be able to take from its own talent pool.”

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Cooper heads to the US next month as part of the Australian team that will play in an invitational tournament, but his future beyond that is up in the air.

“I feel like I could play [rugby] another three years if I wanted – easily. Now, do I want to do that? I’m not sure yet. I haven’t decided if I want to continue playing or if I want to retire or if I want to take up another sport full-time, I just haven’t decided that at this minute,” he said.

“We’ve got a break coming up from June 1, so that’ll be me being able to decide what I want to do, and that’s why being able to go and play flag football, it’s a really important time for me because it will help me make my decision on what I want to do next.”