No song and dance as Waratahs legend Michael Hooper prepares to bow out

For a star player who has been in the sporting spotlight for over a decade, Michael Hooper remains an enigma. As he opens up on his Sydney farewell with the Waratahs, he’s also eyeing a big change.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 20: Michael Hooper of the Waratahs runs the ball during the round 13 Super Rugby Pacific match between NSW Waratahs and Fijian Drua at Allianz Stadium, on May 20, 2023, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

On or off the field, Michael Hooper rarely yields.

As he prepares to play his last home game for the Waratahs, against Moana Pasifika at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, two things remain unchanged.

One: He’s getting ready to rip in, and two: he ain’t saying much.

That’s the way it’s always been with ‘Hoops’.

For a star player who has been in the sporting spotlight for over a decade, Hooper remains an enigma.

Rugby fans know and admire him as a fearless warrior on the paddock, but know little else about the man himself, which is just how he likes it.

A reluctant hero, happily married and a new father, Hooper has always kept a distance between his professional and private life.

His family will all be at Allianz Stadium to see his NSW farewell, adding to the fanfare of the occasion.

If Hooper had his way, no-one would ever be making a fuss about him, but this is one time he’s had to concede.

Michael Hooper is preparing to play his last home game for the Waratahs. Picture: Getty Images

Although it’s not his last match for the Waratahs because NSW are assured of a place in the Super Rugby semi-finals in New Zealand, it’s still a big deal.

Hooper is without question one of NSW’s greatest ever players.

He made his debut in 2013 after initially starting his Super Rugby career with the Brumbies and Saturday’s match will be his 140th appearance in the sky blue jersey.

His greatest success was one of his first, when he captained the Waratahs to win Super Rugby for the first and still only time, in 2014, in front of a record crowd of almost 62,000 at Accor Stadium.

“We won that one, which is good, but we haven’t been in the final since; a semi-final, a couple of finals,” Hooper said this week.

“But to be in that big final, and hopefully this year is another opportunity. You never know what you have got until you are well past it, and it’s nine or ten years ago now. Great memory.”

Michael Hooper captained the Waratahs to their only Super Rugby triumph, in 2014.

Asked what he thought his legacy was, Hooper deflected from the question, saying: “I‘m trying to focus on the game. It’s a big game for us to try to regain some momentum going into the finals so I want to play well.

“That’s my first focus and then after that final whistle blows ... having the family there, and hopefully getting them onto the field to experience that with me would be cool.”

Other players were more forthcoming. Hooper may be shy when talking publicly about it to his teammates, he’s a ferocious competitor.

His fellow flanker David Pocock, who played with and against Hooper for years, said: “I love playing alongside Michael Hooper. Phenomenal athlete, a great team man, and he has given a lot to Australian rugby.

“I really hope that the Tahs can give him a good send off for his last game at home. He’s put a huge amount in, he’s put his body on the line and I’ll certainly be watching and cheering him on.

“George Smith gave opensides permission to be a little bit shorter and closer to the ground, which I’m very grateful for. Him and Phil Waugh really changed that position. And it is something that Australia has excelled at. It’s a critical position, probably the most important on the field.”

Michael Hooper gets the better of Crusaders rival Richie McCaw in the 2014 Super Rugby final. Picture: Getty Images

As an old fashioned breakaway, Hooper’s best work is often unsighted because it takes place at the bottom of rucks and mauls.

Their job is to stick their head and hands in places where no-one else wants to go — then get up and do it again and again.

It’s a bruising job that sorts the men from the boys but Hooper always has played the game the way it should be played: hard but fair.

Rarely injured, the only thing he kept breaking was records.

He was appointed NSW captain by Michael Cheika when he was just 22.

He became the youngest Australian to make 100 Super Rugby appearances.

He’s also won the Matt Burke Cup as the Waratahs’ player a record seven times but has another sevens goals in mind when he finished off at the Waratahs.

He’s hoping to play sevens rugby for Australia at next year’s Paris Olympics — and few would bet against him, even if he’s playing down his chances.

“Sevens is on the landscape but there is a lot of work and detail that needs to go into that,” Hooper said.

“Those guys are incredibly fit, and it’s a different game, and it’s a different beast to when I started and played a bit.

“I am a different player now as well, so how that would even look, there is a lot of discussion that needs to be had. Is there overseas, is there something else? I am open to it.”

Originally published as No song and dance as Waratahs legend Michael Hooper prepares to bow out