Cooper ‘excited’ at Dragons return

St George veteran Matt Cooper is glad to be playing again after a spell on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

The 33-year-old centre originally suffered the injury in the opening round win over Newcastle and admits rushing his return.

Cooper was back on the field for the round 4 clash with Manly but sufference a recurrence of the problem, sidelining him until last week’s Anzac Day victory over the Roosters.

“I was really excited to get back out there on Wednesday and it was a great game to be a part of,” Cooper told the club’s official website.

“The ankle held up really well during the game and it feels fine now so hopefully that injury is behind me.

The win against the Tricolours at Allianz Stadium has given the Dragons new resolve heading into Friday night’s trip to Townsville to play North Queensland, according to Cooper.

“The win against the Roosters is up there with one of the best wins I’ve ever had, it was a tough game and they played really well, to win it in the way that we did was something special.

“The mood around training has been really good, a win like that is always going to help us and give us the confidence to win in similar situations.”

He added: “It’s going to be tough for us against the Cowboys because they’ve been playing some good footy this year,” said Cooper.

“We’re pretty excited about going up there, it’ll be a good, hard fought contest and we’ll definitely have to be on our game.”