Quade Cooper ‘all business’ for his much-anticipated clash with Queensland Reds, says Will Genia

The Queensland Reds aren’t too fussed and Melbourne Rebel Quade Cooper hasn’t even mentioned it, but whether they like it or not, it will be on everyone’s radar then they clash on Saturday night.

Melbourne Rebels' Quade Cooper runs with the ball against the Lions in Johannesburg this month.

Quade Cooper hasn’t even mentioned it, at least not to his long-time on-field cohort Will Genia.

On Saturday night Cooper, the former Wallaby star who was shunned by the Queensland Reds last season, sent to club rugby by coach Brad Thorn, will return to haunt his old team.

Cooper only played for one Super Rugby team before he signed with the Melbourne Rebels for this season, and set about reasserting his dominance on the competition.

Between 2006 and 2017, Cooper played 118 games for the Reds. He won the title, along with Genia, for the Reds in 2011.

All that service, all his talent, meant nothing to Thorn however, the former All-Black who deemed Cooper surplus to needs.

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Mebourne Rebels’ Quade Cooper seems to be taking his return to Brisbane to take on his old team all in his stride.

It was the sort of situation to give most players, most people even, a snarl.

Cooper, however, has thrown no animosity the Reds way, at least publicly, since he was allowed out of the final year of his six-figure contract to sign with Melbourne.

Genia, who has been partner in crime with Cooper since they were teenagers, at the Reds, for the Wallabies, and now in Melbourne, said his mate was all business this week too.

“If it is something (he’s thinking about), I haven’t noticed it,” Genia said on Wednesday.

“He’s brought the same intensity, same work ethic, the same quality he has brought each and every week.

“He didn’t leave on bad terms with the Queensland public and the Reds fans. His focus hasn’t been on what it’s going to be like (going back), and personal battles. It’s a case of him doing a job for our team to make sure we bounce back positively from South Africa.”

The trip to South Africa yielded only two losses for the Rebels, first to the Lions, in an after-the-siren heartbreaker, and then to the Sharks in Durban.

Will Genia and Quade Cooper during their time together at the Queensland Reds.

Genia, under instruction from Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, was rested for the second clash, interrupting what has been a sterling resurrection of his partnership with Cooper.

Before they headed off, the Rebels hadn’t lost. They were three from three, with Genia and Cooper arguably sharing the honours as best on field in those three matches.

Genia helped get Cooper to Melbourne, and as a pair they have helped raise expectations about what the Rebels could deliver.

Rebels playmaker Quade Cooper has brought so much to the Melbourne franchise.

Despite his year as a club rugby player, Genia never doubted his mate would make a super impact again.

“I hold him in pretty high regard. I never lowered my expectations in terms of what he brings to the game and a team on and off field,” Genia said.

“I’ve been so grateful to play with him again and see the impact he’s had on the group. He’s got so much knowledge and understanding of how to play the game and his impact on the field, and how we want to play, his communication, his organisation, he has just added so much to the group.”