Why Michael Hooper quit Australian rugby to join Toyota Verblitz
Departing Wallabies captain and the country’s highest-paid player, Michael Hooper, has revealed the reason behind his decision to quit the Waratahs - and he has a message for Australia’s fans.
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No-one should begrudge Michael Hooper for taking the money on offer in Japan when rugby in Australia is broke.
As Australia’s highest-paid player, Hooper is also copping the biggest cut of anyone in the country after player salaries were slashed across the board.
It’s not his fault the code is in financial strife and dozens of other senior players have already packed up and left but Hooper’s sojourn means he won’t miss any Wallaby tests.
“It’s (money) certainly a factor, but this is a good opportunity for me to be exposed to a different environment,” he said.
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“It‘s not a three-four year deal, it’s really six months or less to be around some guys who have seen some pretty cool stuff in the rugby world.
“There’s a multitude of reasons in there, but they’re two of the forefront.”
Hooper’s decision to head overseas looks like everyone else deserting the sinking ship, making Rugby Australia’s job of getting a decent broadcast contract even harder after Raelene Castle turned down the deal that would have bankrolled the game through the coronavirus pandemic.
But there’s a difference. Under the terms of the player pay agreement that was struck after weeks of painful negotiations, Hooper is free to go overseas anytime he wants but decided to go early so he won’t disrupt the plans of new Wallabies coach Dave Rennie ahead of the next World Cup.
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“I want to give myself and be around the environment as best as I can leading into France 2023,” he said.
“We had the ability to do this over the period in our contract, so it could have been ‘22 or the start of 2023. This in that cycle worked the best.”
His decision to head to Japan rather than Europe is also another clear sign of the game’s changing powerbase and where RA should be looking to forge closer ties.
The days when the southern hemisphere’s biggest stars instinctively went to Europe to feather their retirement nest eggs are rapidly disappearing as players instead head to Asia to improve as players.
On the extraordinary success of last year’s World Cup, that should be the cue for RA to push ahead with plans to include a Japanese team in future Super Rugby competitions and allow the Brave Blossoms into the Rugby Championship.
“They play a style not too dissimilar from what we play down here in Super Rugby: It‘s fast, it’s moving,” Hooper said.
“I think that‘s due to a lot of the coaches being either Kiwi or Australian, so it’s pretty similar rugby.”
Unthinkable only a few years ago, Hooper will find himself in high company at Toyota Verblitz where he will be working with his old NSW assistant coach Simon Cron and New Zealand World Cup winners Steve Hansen and Kieran Read.
“He‘s walking into a really competitive rugby environment,” said Waratahs’ coach Rob Penney, who spent six seasons coaching in Japan.
“Japan rugby‘s really improved … there’s a lot of really quality foreigners up there.”
Hooper’s exit will leave the Waratahs in a pickle but Penney – who has been hired to rebuild the side from bottom up – insists it won’t be the end of the world, even if long-suffering supporters may have to be patient even longer.
“It‘s not a blow at all because in a number of ways it allows other people to spread their wings and it creates another opportunity for someone to wear the No. 7 jersey that Hoops has just owned for the last seven or eight years,” Penney said.
“So we’ll be taking the cup half full approach to that.”
Waratahs fuming after playoff changes were made tougher
Waratahs coach Rob Penney is still fuming about the decisions that have left NSW still scrambling for a place in the Super Rugby AU playoffs but insists that won’t be used as an excuse if they miss out.
The Waratahs can seal a spot in the finals if they beat the Melbourne Rebels at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday and collect a bonus point but Penney said the equation should have been much easier.
NSW were denied a bonus point in their 28-8 win over the Western Force two weeks ago when they had two tries disallowed by the TMO, which Penney said could prove costly in the final wash up.
“I don’t want to revisit that but we should have had a bonus point against the Western Force and there would have been a clear win-loss for the weekend as opposed to having to get a bonus point this week.
“There’s been some other things that have happened that we felt had things gone a little differently for us, we wouldn’t have been in the three loss, one win in the first half of the program.”
The Waratahs also suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Brumbies in the first half of the season when they gave up a last-minute try and have split their four matches since then – beating the Reds and the Force but losing heavily against the Rebels and the Brumbies.
“Obviously, we were comprehensively beaten by the Rebels last time we played them and we were comprehensively beaten by the Brumbies last week so no qualms about that but it’s a tight competition,” he said.
“All the teams are capable of beating each other and that’s been proved throughout the competition so if we don’t make it, it’ll be really disappointing because we could have made it.
“It’s one of those ‘if onlys’ if we don’t get there but we’re masters of our destinies heading into this weekend.
“If we’re good enough this weekend then we should be there and if we’re not we won’t be it’s a simple as that
Scoring tries has been a big problem all season for the Waratahs. They have crossed their opponent’s line just 17 times in their seven matches so far.
They managed only one five-pointer against the Brumbies last week, prompting Penney to take a gamble and name former Parramatta Eel backrower Tepai Moeroa at inside centre to cover for the injured Karmichael Hunt.
“We felt our midfield was a wee bit anaemic last week and although we had a couple of good players in there playing, together they probably didn’t quite have the impact we wanted,” Penney said.
“So, given the importance of this match, we felt like we needed to make a shift and Tepai has come in and is going to get an opportunity.
The Rebels pulled a surprise by naming former NSW backrower Michael Wells in the starting side and dropping emerging cult prop Pone Fa’amausili to the bench for returning Wallaby tight-head Jermaine Ainsley while Michael Wells slides into the XV at the expense of Josh Kemeny.
Matt Toomua will keep the captaincy duties with regular skipper Dane Haylett-Petty still sidelined through injury.
“This comp has gotten better and better – every week it’s getting more and more interesting,” Rebels coach Dave Wessels said.
“These are the games you want to play and be a part of and everyone’s just really excited for that.
“With everything that’s happening in Victoria and wanting to play for those people, it’s a real motivator for us.”
Originally published as Why Michael Hooper quit Australian rugby to join Toyota Verblitz