How athletic brilliance of Waratahs captain Michael Hooper will trouble Western Force in Super Rugby opener

MICHAEL Hooper is so good Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson wants to capture his DNA and give it to everyone. So what makes Super Hooper tick?

Michael Hooper sets the standard in the Waratahs camp.

EVERY Monday morning the Waratahs sit down as a team and watch clips of their previous game.

In theory, the session allows coach Daryl Gibson and his staff to “reinforce and focus in on qualities we like as a team, like hard work”.

In practice, it is routinely the Michael Hooper appreciation hour.

“It’s no coincidence that most of the time we are clapping Michael’s effort, or showing clips of him around the field doing triple efforts,” Gibson said.

“In terms of a shining light for us, he’s it. If we had 15 like him, I’d be a happy coach.”

And a successful one, too.

Michael Hooper sets the standard in the Waratahs camp.

Hooper will lead the Waratahs out against the Force on Saturday night in their Super Rugby season opener, and while the winner is an unknown, the fact Hooper will win players’ player votes is a given.

The 25-year-old is so consistently good he falls into that rare category of athlete whose brilliance is almost hidden in plain sight. Like Israel Folau, he plays at such a high level every week that a 9/10 is often marked down as another “solid shift”.

Teammates recognise it — witness Hooper’s two John Eales medals and four Matt Burke medals in four seasons at NSW — and Gibson definitely does.

After Hooper came off a 10-week break and shone for NSW in 60 minutes in a trial against the Highlanders, Gibson said he’d love to bottle Hooper’s DNA and give it to his team.

Exactly what does that DNA contain? Physically and mentally, what makes Hooper tick like a nuclear-powered Energizer bunny?

“He is extremely driven and self-motivated, his personal expectation of himself is huge,” Hooper’s brother Richard said.

“But he also doesn’t want to let anyone down, and he understands if he wants to get the best of out everyone else, he needs to be showing that at training and on the field. Leading by example. That’s another motivator for him.”

Richard is 18 months older than his brother and they went to the Brumbies academy together in 2010. Richard is a strong-running winger who has played 95 games for Manly but he recognised early in Canberra he didn’t have the same inner fire as Michael.

“I remember from when he first started out he was always about: “if I am not doing it today, someone else is. My competition will be”. That was his mentality,” Richard said.

Michael Hooper shows the way in the fitness stakes.

Michael’s genetic gifts, Richard explains, are a mix of brawny father David and mum Raeleen, who was a state-level netballer.

“She wasn’t overly tall but she was a hyperactive, non-stop centre,” Richard said.

“So there’s Michael for you, isn’t it? Build would be from Dad I guess but from an engine point of view, that’s both Mum and Dad.”

Hooper’s professional career — and physical feats — are statistically phenomenal. He is only 25 but Hooper is entering his eighth Super Rugby season.

Since moving to the Tahs in 2013, Hooper has missed one game (due to a Wallabies camp), played the most minutes of Super Rugby, made the most runs of any forward and the second most tackles. With Test rugby duties thrown in, he has played more minutes than any other Australian in the past five years and in 2015 brought up 50 Tests faster than any Wallaby in history.

Did we mention intensity? Wallabies staff shake their head at Hooper data.

Only Nick Phipps is fitter, but Hooper’s workrate stats — tackles, rucks, runs — are usually top or near-top each Test. Hooper routinely gets through about 7km a game, at high pace.

Want more? Hooper’s top speed (honed as a teenager beach sprinter) is equal with wingers Henry Speight and Dane Haylett-Petty. Leadership-wise, Hooper is skipper of NSW, captained Australia at 22 and is only a matter of when — not if — he’ll take over from Stephen Moore.

“He is a fierce competitor. He is driven,” Gibson said.

Michael Hooper has only missed one game since moving to the Tahs in 2013.

“There is something inside him that won’t let him quit.”

Hooper has now eased off the “if I am not training, someone else is” attitude, and has settled on a routine that gets him to peak physical shape.

But the key element of Hooper’s DNA — dare we say the freak gene — appears to be an ability to ignore pain.

Where screaming lungs and dead legs have others begging off, Hooper is still revving his engine at full power, and smiling.

“You hurt at a training session, you hurt doing your shuttles in summer,” Hooper said.

“But within the game, all you are thinking about is the game. Yes, your body is hurting but you are competing at that point. It is easy to move past it and think about what you have to do next for the team. That’s what I love about rugby. That’s when it is fun.”

Originally published as How athletic brilliance of Waratahs captain Michael Hooper will trouble Western Force in Super Rugby opener