It ended on Sunday night with the stand-in captain sitting on the JJ Kelly Park sidelines, head in her hands as the Wollongong side wasted its first chance to seal back-to-back premierships.

Moments earlier, Cooper saw red for the first time in her career after receiving her second caution of the 1-1 stalemate with title rivals Manly.

The match wouldn't have finished in a deadlock if Cooper's goal 15 minutes from time had been allowed to stand.

It was waved off for a foul in the lead-up that had nothing to do with the 24-year-old.

Those bad breaks paled in comparison with the ones she sustained in a training ground collision on Friday night.

Cooper was knocked unconscious and suffered a compound fracture of her nose and a broken cheekbone after butting heads with club-mate Ash Francis.

Three hours later, Cooper was insisting to coach Brett Wallin she would take her place in the first-versus-second showdown.

Wallin marvelled at his star's resilience after the fixture that could have secured the trophy with three rounds to spare.

"Jess was playing with a broken nose, she's not a dirty player," Wallin said. "She's as tough as any athlete going around." Cooper - who spoke to the Mercury minutes after being dismissed - was shattered she would miss Sunday's pivotal tussle with Inter Lions.

"I know I miss out next week, getting on the park tonight was hard," she said.

"All I want to do is get out there and play with the girls."

The midfielder - who along with Trudy Camilleri and Tilly Kramer were dominant for the Stingrays - admitted she erred in prolonging a protest at a referee's decision, leading to her second yellow card.

"It was the wrong thing to do, the girls know I'm sorry," Cooper said.

Harder to grasp were the circumstances leading to the accident that kick-started a horror 48 hours.

"I don't remember what happened - I'm not one to pull out of a tackle but I came off second-best," she said.

Perhaps Cooper's determination to defy swelling, pain and stitches to return to the paddock was a result of missing the Stingrays' charges to championships in 2008 (Super League) and 2009 (Premier League) because of three knee reconstructions.

"The goal is back-to-back, everyone talks about the grand final but the league is the big one because it means you're the most consistent," Cooper said.