Blues wary of fired-up Quade Cooper, says coach John Kirwan THREAT: The Blues are wary of a fired-up Quade Cooper. BLUES Super Rugby coach John Kirwan hopes Wallabies mentor and fellow Kiwi Robbie Deans to recall gifted playmaker Quade Cooper ... and quickly. The third-placed Blues face the second-placed Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Friday, with Kirwan wary of the growing influence of flyhalf Cooper for a side he rates as the "best in the comp." Along with halfback Will Genia, Cooper is the obvious Reds danger man according to Kirwan, who noted the Kiwi-born player's improvement came after being surprisingly left out of Deans' first national squad of the year earlier this month. I just wish Robbie hadn't left Quade out of that squad. Since then he's been playing the house down," Kirwan told reporters. I might ring Robbie and see if he'll pick Quade this week. The four points accrued from last weekend's bye have lifted the Blues to the top of a tightly fought New Zealand conference. But Kirwan said the intensity of last weekend's top-of-the-table match between the Reds and Brumbies, which was drawn 19-19, provided a reality check. For us it's going to be a battle up front firstly, because they're really aggressive at ruck time, and then we're going to have to contain two world class playmakers. Genia, Cooper, if you don't control them, you're going to be in all sorts of trouble. Australian teams have won seven of nine matches against New Zealand teams this season, with the Hurricanes recording both of the Kiwi trans-Tasman wins. Former All Black Kirwan believes the carrot of playing against the British and Irish Lions in June was partly behind the lifting of Australia's overall standards, recalling his desire to play against the 1993 tourists. "And I think they (Australian teams) have had a lot of time in the saddle pre-season, they had eight or nine weeks together which is a luxury we don't get," he said. They are well drilled ... and there is that Lions jersey there so everyone's up trying to be selected and it seems to be that Robbie is looking at everyone.