NSW Waratahs captain Michael Hooper concedes teammates were out of shape in horror season

WARATAHS skipper Michael Hooper is looking for attitude adjustments from his teammates, after poor fitness led to one of their worst seasons.

Michael Hooper takes on the defence of Wallabies coach Michael Cheika during training on Friday.

WARATAHS captain Michael Hooper has conceded that some of his teammates were unfit, as he comes to terms with leading one of the worst NSW teams in history.

Hooper, regarded as the fittest player in Australian rugby, was let down by below-par teammates in a 2017 season that yielded just four wins and a record number of points conceded.

“Certain guys could have been in better shape, but if you really want to be somewhere, you’ll be there,” Hooper said.

“For me, and for the rest of the leadership group, that’s going to be the thing that we can’t have happen, in defence, we can’t be 20 points down first 10-20 minutes into the game.

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“You’ve got to want to make that tackle, every time, because that’s what it was.

“You look at that Force game [a 40-11 loss in the final round], down that left edge, we were just falling off tackles at the start of the game.

Waratahs captain Michael Hooper trains with the Wallabies ahead of next month’s Bledisloe Cup first Test.

“[If] we have guys wanting to be there, wanting to make that tackle, because we don’t want to let our other man down inside us, then we’ll be in a lot better shape and guys will just feel fitter because they know they have to do their job.”

NSW coach Daryl Gibson said out-of-shape players had let the team down.

“Individuals will have a good look at themselves around their own fitness levels,” Gibson said.

“Someone like Michael Hooper is more than fit to play a game.

“It’s certainly an area we want to look at and make sure we fix up.”

Hooper admitted he had planned not to watch the Super Rugby final in a fortnight, but he and the rest of the squad will be hauled in by Gibson and made to watch the decider to learn the level they must reach in 12 months.

Waratahs captain Michael Hooper.

“It’s going to suck, we want to be there [playing],” Hooper said.

“On the positive it puts you a year out from the place we want to be, so yes it will be frustrating to be there in that situation not actually tying the boots on that night.

“However, it should create a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of drive for players to be like, ‘What are we doing?’

“This year that’s just been can’t happen again, everything we do is towards that goal.”

With no Australian team beating a Kiwi side in the regular rounds of Super Rugby this year, the Wallabies are tipped to be thrashed by the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Cup match on August 19 in Sydney.

Hooper and the rest of the Wallabies squad named earlier this week have begun vigorous training in Sydney this week to ensure they’re in top shape for the crucial Test.

“It’s a hell of a prize, it’s even more of a prize the fact that no one thinks you can do it,” Hooper said.

“All the hard work is in vain if you don’t get the good things at the end, and that’s the thing about the year here at the Waratahs, and not beating a Kiwi team.

“The opportunity to play these guys again, we want to work hard to get the opportunity to win these games.

“I go in every year full of confidence that we can beat these guys, full of confidence.

“You see the players we’ve got running around, we’ve got the talent, it’s under a month now until it comes around.

“We’re having conversations now about what’s going to be in place in under a month’s time, how we’re going to beat New Zealand, what’s it going to take to beat New Zealand, and do you guys actually think we can do it? Having those conversations, all that with in mind of the end goal, which is so exciting.”