Cooper not going to NRL: ARU

AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union boss John O'Neill and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans have shot down reports that star playmaker Quade Cooper is considering a shock defection to rugby league next season.

News Limited on Friday claimed Cooper had held secret negotiations with the Parramatta NRL club, but both O'Neill and Deans say the 22-year-old is going nowhere.

O'Neill suspects the report is typical of a player agent trying to bump up his charge's price tag at a time the ARU is in negotiations with Australia's reigning Super 14 player of the year.

"We woke up this morning to read the news and I'm not sure how accurate the reporting has been," O'Neill told reporters on Friday.

"We already had a meeting with his agent scheduled today. It may just be a coincidence that we wake up to a headline.

"Quade's a rising star ... a young man at the start of his career - why would you go to rugby league?

"He's got the world at his feet in our game, he's got a World Cup next year, he's a player we want to retain and we're confident in the coming week or so we'll have a satisfactory deal done.

"Negotiations are continuing. They have been underway for a little while now and we're confident Quade will be staying in rugby union."

Asked his thoughts on the reports, Deans said: "There is no dalliance with league".

"Quade's expressed to us that not only does he love what he does but he wants to continue doing it and personally I'm pretty confident that that will be the case," he said.

"This tends to happen. It's newsworthy, so to speak - maybe - but I'm confident in the long run (he'll stay)."