A nasty incident during a game between the Eagles and Woorndoo-Mortlake saw him take a bump which caused a brain haemorrhage, prompting the senior player to be airlifted to Melbourne for emergency surgery.

Fortunately the former Eagles player has made a full recovery from the incident but will not return to the football field as a player – medical advice was to avoid all full contact sports for the rest of his life.

Cooper said that it was the biggest test he has encountered so far.

“Football was my favourite thing to do, so it was really hard to come to terms with not being able to play anymore,” he said.

“I have always been keen on football and wanted to play having been around the club for most of my life.”

The incident led to headaches but nothing Cooper thought twice about.

He continued to visit a doctor regularly with migraines and two or three weeks after the initial incident, a decision was made to transport him to Melbourne for treatment.

He said it gave his family a big scare to see how serious it was.

“I flew to hospital on the eve of mum’s birthday, she said getting the phone call from me on the morning of her birthday with me being normal was the best birthday present she could hope for,” she said.

Despite the consequences of the action, Cooper said he does not regret putting his head down and going for the ball.

“That is football,” he said.

“Everyone who plays it knows the risks you take every time you step on the ground and I would not change anything for the world.”

Cooper said getting back involved in the club he played for as a junior has boosted his spirits.

“It feels amazing to be back involved,” hes aid.

“It is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for me after the incident.

“I came and watched a few games last year and the interest came back and I knew I had to get back involved somehow.

“So when the coaching role came up, I talked to Scott (Jackson) and we made up a presentation and obviously the club liked what they saw.”

The Eagles have started preseason training with strong numbers at each session with up to 20 people attending.

The 2018 Mininera and District Football League season is expected to start the week after Easter but the official fixture has not been released yet.