Quade Cooper quietly returning to top form for Wallabies PT1M23S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2vu2k 620 349 October 19, 2013 Quade Cooper has cut out the white noise and is a more relaxed and focused playmaker because of it, Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie says. As Cooper's coach at the Reds and now with the Wallabies, McKenzie has been an intimate observer of the Queensland five-eighth's career trajectory. He has seen Quade the teenage prodigy, Quade the game-changing Test No.10, Quade the McCaw-baiter and Quade the Wallabies pariah. Now he is observing Quade the quiet achiever. "I know what he's capable of doing": Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie on Quade Cooper. "The routine of week-to-week playing, knowing what his responsibilities are, knowing how he's going to play the game, all those things are fairly certain for him at the moment," McKenzie said. That allows him to concentrate on the competitive part of it which is what he likes; to win games, rather than worry about his injuries or off-field stuff. It's all been pretty straight forward. Straight forward is not a phrase historically associated with the talented Wallabies five-eighth. But since returning to the Test environment ahead of the first Bledisloe Cup Test in August, Cooper has been steadily putting his game - and form - back together. The Wallabies' 41-33 loss in Dunedin at the weekend was his most complete performance to date. Yet McKenzie won't wax lyrical just yet. Five upcoming Test matches in the northern hemisphere will provide a better indication of whether Cooper really is, as Australians hope, back with a vengeance. But the Wallabies coach is prepared to give credit where it's due. "I've seen the 100 per cent goal kicking, I've seen him manage a game and I've seen him make try-saving tackles," McKenzie said. Everyone likes to say 'he can't do this' and 'he can't do that' or 'because the crowd's booing he can't play'. Well it didn't seem to affect him [on Saturday], he just gets out there. Maybe he had the full gamut on display but I know what he's capable of doing. Cooper also has the backing of his teammates, which is no small feat considering his spectacular fall from grace little more than a year ago. Adam Ashley-Cooper, an 87-Test veteran of the Wallabies' back line, told Fairfax Media this week that Cooper was "a completely different person." It is evident in his comments off the field. Reluctant to talk about his individual improvement after a Wallabies loss, Cooper said there was growing belief in the group as a whole. "We have to stick tight together as a team and continue to build for something we're working hard at, which is being a world class team," he said. Those things don't happen overnight but we can see the end result and the closer we come as a team, when we play against the All Blacks and South Africa, the better we'll be in the long run. McKenzie is pleased the conversation is about Cooper's rugby again. He drew parallels between Cooper and Aaron Cruden, the All Blacks five-eighth who spent his early career in the shadow of Dan Carter but has emerged as a well-rounded attacking weapon. "They're exactly the same age (and) played against each other in age group," McKenzie said. They came in and were expressive and people had question marks about sectors of their games. Now they're playing in the top teams under the pressure and spotlight and performing in all the sectors of the game necessary. The best part is that people are talking about [Cooper] playing footy, the bit that he likes.