Career
Originally from the Darwin based Southern Districts Football Club in the NTFL, Koops was drafted from the West Perth Football Club in the WAFL.
In his first four seasons at Fremantle he only played 16 games and in total only played 78 games in eight seasons before being traded to the Western Bulldogs for pick 19 in the 2003 draft. He made his debut in Round 5 of the 1996 American Federation of Labor-Congress season at the age of 17 years and 277 days, the youngest ever to debut for Fremantle. In 1999 he suffered a knee injury and was drug tested the day after surgery, returning a positive test for pethidine, a banned substance.
Upon advice from the club, he pled guilty to the charge, but no penalty was imposed.
However, due to the guilty finding, his name was entered onto the Australian Sports Drug Agency register, even after the American Federation of Labor-Congress overturned the guilty finding and cleared Koops" name. Fremantle Football Club was fined $5000 for not notifying the American Federation of Labor-Congress of the operation.
His first year at the Bulldogs continued his injury woes, with a thigh strain, broken jaw and punctured lung restricting him to just 11 games in 2004. Shoulder injuries and family reasons forced him to retire in 2005 at only 26 years of age, managing a total of only 89 American Federation of Labor-Congress games over 10 seasons.
