Quade Cooper’s journey to fulfillment outside rugby has him on brink of Rugby World Cup return

So when you ask whether he’s set his sights on playing at next year’s Rugby World Cup in France, his answer is surprising.

“My focus is solely on making sure I build the right habits and the right discipline in my life – which I’ve been doing for the past four years – at a high level,” Cooper, 34 tells CODE Sports.

“If I do that, it’ll allow me to be in a position to be ready for it if I’m given the opportunity by Dave (Rennie) and his staff.

“The World Cup is along that journey, but if it doesn’t happen, I won’t be upset, because that isn’t what motivates me.”

It’s a glimpse into the new mindset the once-maligned Wallabies playmaker has adopted.

His new approach to life and rugby has been a crucial element in his latest comeback from injury.

In August, he was staring down the barrel of an earlier than anticipated retirement after requiring surgery on a serious Achilles injury he’d picked up against Argentina in Mendoza.

Just a month prior to that, a calf injury forced him out of Australia’s opening Test against England just minutes before kick-off.

A decade ago those kinds of setbacks might have sent him spiralling.

Back then, as one of Australian rugby’s biggest stars and its most mercurial talent since David Campese, he was driven – even dictated to – by tournaments, trophies, titles and the trappings of fame.

But it was a hollow existence.

With experience and perspective, the Tokoroa-raised Cooper now sees the world very differently.

“What motivates me is being able to do things at a high level every day,” he says.

“And when you do that over a period of time, any opportunity that arises, you’re in a great space to take it.”

His match-winning penalty against reigning world champions South Africa on the Gold Coast last year is the perfect example.

Down by a point two minutes after the final siren had sounded, a steely-eyed Cooper lined up the kick from 40m out and halfway out to the right-hand touchline.

He put boot to ball and the Gilbert flew straight through the sticks as the Wallabies claimed a momentous 28-26 victory.

On a personal note, it should have signaled a triumphant return to the national team in his first Test in more than four years, but as his teammates stormed the field and mobbed him, Cooper’s expression barely changed. He clapped once as the touch judges’ flags went into the air, but otherwise seemed unmoved, remaining as focused as he was when lining it up.

“When I think back to that moment, and put myself in that position again, I knew that I could live with the outcome because I knew the level of work I’d put in – I had my own back,” he says.

“That’s the biggest thing. A lot of people will go, ‘I need to get this kick to please everyone else’, but for me – and, of course I want to get the kick – but I’ve given myself the opportunity to achieve that through the work I’d done previously.”

For many fans, the game – and the success of Rennie’s bold call to reinstate Cooper – hinged on that one moment. In reality, Cooper had been preparing for that kick for years.

“Everyone wants to go back to that penalty, but that was four years on from when I started training,” he says.

“Things may happen the next day or a month later, you just don’t know when. So, don’t use that as what you’re working towards.

“That’s why I don’t like having goals, so to speak – you’re looking for rewards. You need rewards to continue doing that work.

“But it’s not about any of that. You do the work because that’s who you want to be as a person.”

So, who is Quade Cooper as a person?

“Rugby is part of who I am, it’s not who I am. It doesn’t rule my identity,” he says.

“I don’t find my value in being a rugby player, or the accomplishments I’ve had as a rugby player.

“What fuels me is saying, ‘I want to be a person who’s reliable, who has great discipline, whose character is strong’.

“And those are the things that hold me in good stead to be a good rugby player.”

His reaction to the success or failure of that match-winning kick against the Springboks is now drastically different too.

“If I’d missed, 10 years ago, my mindset would’ve been to get really upset and kick stones, and the next day I’d have gone out and kicked a thousand kicks to make up for it,” he says.

“If I got it, I’d celebrate with the boys, then go out and look for some type of attention and gratification of me getting that kick. I’d have been looking for the status of what it means for me getting that kick.

“The way I am now, is that how I live every day allows me to live with whatever happens in those situations.

“That’s where you feel calm. You’re not searching for anything after that moment.”

That might sound like an excuse, or a cop out, but in reality, Cooper’s approach means he’s accountable for those big moments every single day, not just when they do happen to arrive.

“I don’t worry about motivation or confidence. To me, that’s very fickle,” he explains.

“With motivation, you’re looking for things that will be able to help you go and do something each day. If you want to go to the gym and you need motivation, that’s not who you are – the gym isn’t part of who you are.

“For me, it’s about building disciplines and habits that will allow me to flourish in my chosen field, which happens to be rugby.

“It’s about building those habits and disciplines for a year, then 18 months, then two years, then that’s who you are.

“Now, when you have no motivation, you still do those things. You get up and it’s cold outside, and you don’t want to run, what do you do? You still run, because that’s who you are.

“I’m grateful I’ve been able to learn those lessons while still playing the game.”