Swinton sign Cooper on return from Australia

Swinton have signed prop Jack Cooper from Australian club Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Cooper, 20, is the younger brother of Warrington’s Michael Cooper and played for the Wolves as a junior.

He warmed up with the Lions against Toulouse on Saturday and is in contention for a place in the squad to face Hunslet at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday (3pm).

Swinton coach Gary Chambers said: “James Laithwaite has broken his ankle and is going to be out for about eight weeks and we are going to need to bring a few guys in.

“So I’ve brought in Jack Cooper and he warmed up with us before last weekend’s game

“I had him as a junior at Warrington and he has just come back from Australia.

“He was offered a first team contract by Warrington but he decided to go to Australia.

It didn’t work out there for whatever reason and I’ve brought him into the squad.

“He’s a big tough lad and he’s young, which is what we want because we are building for the future.

“We’ll keep looking to add some depth in there. We need to bolster the squad to assist the lads who are already there.”

Cooper earned a contract for 2012 with Wynnum, the feeder team to NRL club Brisbane Broncos, after putting clips of his performances on You Tube.

He said at the time: “I had the opportunity to go full time in Super League, however moving to Australia is something that I wanted to do.”

Now he is back hoping to further his career with Swinton in the Championship.