RED LETTER DAY NEARS FOR REBELS’ NEW STAR
QUADE Cooper hasn’t even mentioned it, at least not to his long-time on-field cohort Will Genia.
On Saturday night, Cooper, the former Wallabies star who was shunned by the Queensland Reds last season, sent to club rugby by coach Brad Thorn, will return to haunt his old team.
Cooper only played for one Super Rugby team before he signed with the Melbourne Rebels for this season, and set about reasserting his dominance on the competition.
Between 2006 and 2017, Cooper played 118 games for the Reds. He won the title, along with Genia, for the Reds in 2011.
All that service, all his talent, meant nothing to Thorn however, the former All-Black who deemed Cooper surplus to needs.
It was the sort of situation to give most players, most people even, a snarl.
Cooper, however, has thrown no animosity the Reds’ way, at least publicly, since he was allowed out of the final year of his six-figure contract to sign with Melbourne.
Genia, who has been partner in crime with Cooper since they were teens, at the Reds, for Australia and now Rebels, said his mate was all business this week too.
“If it is something (he’s thinking about), I haven’t noticed it,” Genia said.
“He’s brought the same intensity, work ethic, the same quality he has brought each and every week.
“He didn’t leave on bad terms with the Queensland public and the Reds fans. His focus hasn’t been on what it’s going to be like (going back), and personal battles. It’s a case of him doing a job for our team to make sure we bounce back positively from South Africa.”
The trip to South Africa yielded only two losses for the Rebels, first to the Lions, in an after-the-siren heartbreaker, and then to the Sharks in Durban.
Genia, under instruction from Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, was rested for the second clash, interrupting what has been a sterling resurrection of his partnership with Cooper.
Before they headed off, the Rebels hadn’t lost. They were three from three, with Genia and Cooper arguably sharing the honours as best on field in those three games.
Genia helped get Cooper to Melbourne, and as a pair they have helped raise expectations about what the Rebels could deliver.
“I hold him in pretty high regard,” Genia said of Cooper. “I never lowered my expectations in terms of what he brings to the game and a team on and off field.
“I’ve been so grateful to play with him again and see the impact he’s had on the group.”