LOSING sucks and losing a grand final really, really sucks.

The Adelaide Crows and North Queensland Cowboys will be nursing sore egos as well as banged-up bodies after losing the AFL and NRL deciders respectively this weekend. Nothing anyone says to the players will ease their hurt.

While the results were the same for both sides, their reactions — or specifically, the reactions of their captains — were worlds apart. Crows skipper Taylor Walker kept his post-match address short and sharp while Cowboys leader Gavin Cooper took a little longer on stage.

Walker was hammered on social media for being a “sore loser” while the Twittersphere was full of praise for a “classy” Cooper. This is what they said:

GAVIN COOPER

media_camera Cooper was classy in defeat.

“I just want to congratulate Smithy (Cameron Smith), Bellyache (coach Craig Bellamy) — the whole Melbourne crew. You showed tonight what you’ve been showing all year,” Cooper said. “You were a cut above everyone this year — everyone should be very proud of what you’ve done and achieved.

“Tonight, you gave us a lesson in the tough stuff. Congratulations and enjoy the trophy.

“To our members, fans, supporters — up north, south, from all around, right up there — to all the families that have travelled far and wide, it’s been a heck of a ride this last month. No one gave us a chance in hell to do anything that we’ve done.

“We gave ourselves a chance to do something special. Unfortunately we fell short but thankyou for your support.

“To our guys, it’s been a tough year but it’s brought us closer together. Like Bill (Slater) said we’ll be better for what’s happened this year, we’ll get a couple of names back and build on what we’ve done. The sky’s the limit.

“To Cooper Cronk and Bill — not sure what you’re doing (next year) — whatever you guys decide to do in the future, congrats on everything you’ve achieved in the game.

“You’ve made our game a better place for the last 10 years and if you do leave, there’ll be some big shoes to fill so once again congrats Melbourne and thanks everyone for your support.”

Eloquent and gracious speech from the @nthqldcowboys captain! #NFLGF — Dave Hughes (@DHughesy) October 1, 2017

Classy speech from Gavin Cooper — cameron adams (@cameron_adams) October 1, 2017

Nice touch by Gavin Cooper to thank Cronk and Slater for what they have done for the game during their careers. — Brad Walter (@BradWalterSport) October 1, 2017

Gavin Cooper all class. Cowboys potentially get JT, Scott and Jordan McLean next yr. Will be legit contenders. #NRLGF — Roy Ward (@rpjward) October 1, 2017

Gavin Cooper all class - congratulations to Paul Green and the @nthqldcowboys humble in defeat. fantastic to watch the Cows play this yr — Jessica Yates (@Jessica_Yates) October 1, 2017

Top post-match interviews in that lot (as opposed to yesterday.) — Adam Peacock (@adampeacock3) October 1, 2017

Take a bow Gavin Cooper, that's one of the classiest, most eloquent post-game speeches I've ever heard. #NRLGF — edwyatt (@edwyatt) October 1, 2017

Gavin Cooper's heart is breaking, and he can only think to thank Billy and Cooper.



You sir - are a gentleman of the highest order. #NRLGF #rideemcowboys @nthqldcowboys — Dave Ray (@daveray99) October 1, 2017

TAYLOR WALKER

media_camera Short and sweet.

“Firstly, congratulations Richmond. Too good,” Walker said. “Thanks to the sponsors and sorry Crows fans we couldn’t get it done. Thank you very much for travelling. Thank you.”

Taylor Walker is a bad sport and a sore loser. What a poor example of a leader with his pathetic losers speech. How bout some humility? — Tony Ladiges (@TonyLadiges) October 1, 2017

How could you think that speech from Billy was a waste of time?! And Gavin Cooper gave Tex some sort of lesson on gracious loser speech. — Samuel Paske (@scpaske03) October 1, 2017

Tex Walker could learn a thing or two off Gavin Cooper about losing captains speeches :) #AFLGF #NRLGF — Tim Rosen (@timrosen35) October 1, 2017

Someone should play Taylor Walker NQ runner up speech. Some actual class #NRLGF #aflgf — D.March (@MarchyTweets) October 1, 2017

Taylor Walker could take a leaf out of Gavin Coopers book about making a condolence speech. Well done Coops #AFLGF #NRLGF @AFL @Adelaide_FC — Sparta Productions (@kane_elias) October 1, 2017

Compare that runners up speech to the shameful one by Taylor Walker yesterday. Absolute chalk and cheese #NRLGrandFinal #NRLStormCowboys — Ben Prentice (@benprentice01) October 1, 2017

Walker’s not a natural public speaker so you can understand why he kept his speech brief. Plus Adelaide was the raging favourite after winning the minor premiership and coasting through its qualifying and preliminary finals, so the pain of being the best team all year but falling at the final hurdle will have been extra tough to swallow.

Making the top eight was considered a miracle for the Cowboys so by advancing to the grand final they’d already exceeded everyone’s expectations — no doubt even their own. That probably explains why Cooper was able to put things in perspective and win the public PR battle of the losing captains.

Originally published as Cowboy’s class a lesson for Tex