Cooper keeping his head down
After missing out on the Wallaby camp earlier in the season Quade Cooper insists that his focus is with the Reds entirely as national selection looms.
Cooper had a run-in with Australian coach Robbie Deans last year and when asked about his chances, was very tight-lipped about his potential selection.
"It all depends on what the coach and the selectors are looking for.
"Personally I am doing my best to work with Will [Genia], get the best out of each other and the Reds – I am not looking further than that," Cooper added.
The highly publicised flyhalf is starting to head back towards the form that the rugby world knows he is capable of and this could have a lot to do with the little general – Genia.
"I love playing with Quade. I don't feel as comfortable as I do with him," Genia told AAP.
The electrifying scrumhalf has made it known to Deans that he and Cooper have an incredible understanding, and Cooper is ready to put the Australian gold jersey back on.
"We've got a long relationship. We've played together for a long time – I really enjoy that combination.
"More than anything it is a trust thing. In whatever decision each makes we back and support each other," Genia added.
The attacking prowess of the Reds has been lacking slightly and Genia suggested that the side adjust the way in which they try and beat opposition defences.
"Our attack is stuttering a bit and we haven't scored as many tries as we would have liked.
"We have had mountains of possession and we are not able to convert them into points – that's a big focus for us this week.
"We need to vary the way we play. At the moment we are doing the same thing over and over again – it's not like us," said Genia.
This frustration comes after the Reds were unable to breach a resolute Force defence last weekend and it did seem that they were at times fairly one-dimensional and that made it easier for the Force to defend.
"We have a lot of strings to our bow.
"It's about bringing them all out in a particular game," Genia mentioned.
