Cooper starts road back to Wallabies
Flyhalf Quade Cooper will play his first game in four months this weekend, after recovering from shoulder surgery as he aims for Wallabies' selection.
Cooper will start his first game since May in the National Rugby Championship for Brisbane City against Queensland Country on Sunday – in a match he hopes will lead to consideration for the Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks in Brisbane on October 18.
He said he was confident his shoulder would cope in his first official hit-out.
"Going through it with the physios and the trainer and making some tackles, it does do wonders for your confidence," Cooper said.
"The medical staff say everything is right. Now mentally I have to go out there and make sure I am confident."
His recovery from shoulder and minor hip surgery took longer than expected, ensuring he missed out on Australia's touring squad for this weekend's Rugby Championship Test against the Springboks and the October 4 Test in Argentina.
"Everyone's goal is to represent the Wallabies," he said.
"The pathway is there to come back through Brisbane City, play some good football and hopefully be in contention."
Cooper admitted his shoulder was not 100 percent but he hoped the Australian selectors would see a new and improved player.
"Any time you have surgery it's never going to be back to 100 percent but it feels great," he said.
"Any injury takes longer than you would have liked. Every rehab has its complications. But every injury is an opportunity to come back bigger and better."
Brisbane City coach Nick Stiles welcomed the return of the experienced flyhalf, with Cooper boasting more than 100 caps for Queensland.
"It's going to be good to get a guy like Quade back. He brings a lot of experience to a side, but we won't be expecting him to click into gear right away, considering he's been out for 22 weeks," Stiles said.
Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale have been sharing duties in the Wallaby No.10 jumper, but the position in the long term still appears to be up for grabs – with neither man being able to make an irresistible case for guaranteed selection.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has kept in regular contact with Cooper and there's every chance he could follow Reds teammates Will Genia and James Horwill back through the NRC to the Wallaby squad.
Cooper's teammates even gave his shoulder a knock or two before he had been cleared for contact work.
Thankfully, all remains in working order.
"A few of the boys have hit me before I was even back into contact which in some regards is a good thing," Cooper said.
"You get a bit of a fright but then it's like 'oh it feels good'.
"And going through it with the physios and the trainer and making some tackles, it does do wonders for your confidence."
