Captaincy talk motivating Cooper

Quade Cooper says he’s flattered to be considered a candidate for the Australian captaincy and will look to continue where he left off last season.

The Reds playmaker completed a well documented Test career turnaround last season, which culminated with him being handed the vice-captaincy and returning to top form.

Following Ben Mowen’s recent shock announcement that he will quit Australian rugby at the end of the year, Cooper has been mentioned as his possible successor along with Will Genia, James Horwill and David Pocock.    

"It's great to be spoken about in that light, guys throwing out my name as a possibility to be the Wallabies captain," Cooper told AAP on Thursday, admitting, "Six months ago there's no way that could have happened or been thrown in as a possibility.”

But the seemingly transformed Cooper, a far cry from the controversial and outspoken player of 2012, insisted he will not rest on his laurels and plan to use the upcoming Super Rugby season to further his development.  

"I know that the hard work is paying off but that's where you've got to keep working hard, you can't just stop because someone's mentioned me as a possible Wallabies captain. Keep playing good footy and it'll keep flowing from there," he said.

"You've always got to keep working. I've come back knowing that I've been on an improved tour where the whole team played well.

"Being a vice-captain was a great honour but I just had to go out there and do the things that were asked of me and then away from the game work as hard as I can to set a good example to the guys around me."

Cooper added that while the captaincy talk is exciting, he’s not getting ahead of himself.

"For me I've got to focus on my boxing fight coming up [in Brisbane on January 29] and then doing my best for the Queensland Reds and hopefully being a part of the Wallabies moving forward.”