MOASEY'S WEEK IN SPORT: IF THE CAP FITS...

August 16: IF Robbie Deans and John O'Neill didn't wake up in a cold sweat on Friday morning, they'd have soon been swimming in perspiration after reading reports that fly-half Quade Cooper may be considering a switch to rugby league.

The Courier Mail wrote Cooper has had talks with Parramatta in the wake of contract problems with the Australian Rugby Union. We've since heard talk of an $800,000-plus per season offer.

While any deal would seem a long way off and the talks are possibly a way for Cooper's management to squeeze a better deal out of the ARU, losing the Queensland Reds and Wallabies star to league in the year of the World Cup would be a disaster for Australian rugby.

To put it simply, with Cooper at fly-half Australia can win the 2011 World Cup. Without him the team's chances would be dramatically diminished.

Cooper has had little time so far to show his wares at international level but his Super 14 form and what matches he has played in the green and gold have shown he is a rare talent the union code can't afford to lose so soon.

He is the slick passer the national team has been looking for since Stephen Larkham retired. Add to that some fancy footwork and it adds up to the attacking inspiration the Wallabies badly need.

His ability was shown up in this season's Bledisloe Cup tests which he missed through suspension. In his absence, Matt Giteau - who is a proven international-quality player - struggled to get a talented backline heading in the right direction.

Giteau is an excellent ball runner but lack's Cooper's passing skill that can unlock a miserly defence like the All Blacks'.

Cooper brings a backline to life and alongside his Reds halfback partner Will Genia, as well as star backrowers Rocky Elsom and David Pocock, can form the heart of a serious challenger for the William Webb Ellis Cup next year.

If his defence is up to it, Cooper could also be a sensation in rugby league - which is just another reason why Deans and O'Neill should work overtime to secure his signature on a contract before the week is out.

HOCKEY RULES...

THE start of every sport's season is marked by players, coaches and fans having to get used to a batch of new or adjusted rules.

Administrators are constantly looking for ways to improve their sport in an attempt to please supporters or television producers or sponsors - or maybe all three.

The problem is they don't get it right often enough, or they are too slow to make necessary changes - the AFLs attitude to video review springs immediately to mind.

Can I suggest to all administrators there is one sport to which they should look when making changes to improve their sport - hockey.

Based on what was on display at last week's Champions Trophy tournament in Germany - successfully won by Australia's Kookaburras under the guidance of master coach Ric Charlesworth - hockey has emerged as a fast-moving, action -packed sport that deserves to draw plenty of attention.

Not so many years ago the sport tended to be dour, especially as played by European powerhouses Germany and The Netherlands, who played a possession-based game and used penalty corners as their preferred route to goal.

But some smart rule changes - frequent interchange, hitting the ball to yourself at free hits, stopping time wasting and new rules about how you can hit the ball - have changed the nature of the sport - for the better.

Hockey officials obviously love making rule changes - check out the History of the Rules of Hockey on the http://www.fihockey.org/ website - but from what was on display last week they seem to have got most of them right.

It's now a sport Australians should pay attention to more often than every four years at the Olympics.