Itwas a comment to cause Queensland and Australian rugby officials to break into song, Quade Cooper talking about winning 100 caps for the Reds.

Cooper is not irreplaceable in either the Reds or Wallabies line-ups, but certainly there is no like-for-like replacement for him.

He is unique in the game. Even outside it, the only comparable player is the NRL's Benji Marshall, which is hardly surprising given that 22-year-old Cooper has very much styled his game on that of the Wests Tigers wizard.

Rugby league is certain to make another strong play for Cooper this year, just as it did in 2010 when he bought himself some time to contemplate his long-term future by only signing with Australian rugby for one more year.

But since then, on the back of his scintillating Reds campaign, he has become the linchpin of the Wallabies' game, the point-of-difference player who just might make all the difference for Australia at the World Cup later this year.

Until yesterday, Cooper had been playing his cards close to his chest, but when asked about his achievement of reaching 50 appearances for the Reds in Sunday's Super Rugby clash with the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium, he opened up just enough to provide a fascinating insight into his thinking.

"I remember coming out here as an 18-year-old and hoping to play 50 games and then setting the goal to play 100," said Cooper.

"I don't want to look too far ahead, but these are the little goals that I'd like to achieve.

"And as a player you look at the guys who have gone before, Chris Latham, Tim Horan, Mark Connors, who played 100-plus games (for Queensland) and to be mentioned in the same sentence as them would be a great honour for me, if I can make it that far."

Cooper insists that he is in no rush to finalise his plans for 2012 and beyond, be they in rugby in Australia or overseas, or rugby league, but certainly Queensland Rugby Union officials are quietly encouraged by the fact that he is talking so positively both about the game and the impact the Reds are starting to make on the competition.

The excitement Cooper and the Reds have ignited in Queensland has manifested itself in some astonishing figures, with Reds memberships jumping from under 5000 to 12,300 at last count, and corporate box sales vaulting from 30 to 120.

But the mercurial playmaker was at pains to point out that the Reds backs, described yesterday by Force coach Richard Graham as one of the best young backlines in world rugby, can only work their magic if their forwards dominate up front as they did for much of last year.

"It's not going to be all razzle dazzle," he warned.

"The razzle dazzle only comes off the hard work of the forwards. Hopefully we can finish off the work they're doing up front."

Cooper did acknowledge that the Reds are an infinitely more confident outfit now than they were 12 months ago when they were facing their seventh straight season in the bottom three.

But under new coach Ewen McKenzie, they vaulted to fifth and in the process reactivated a support base that had gone into hibernation during the long, bleak ice age.

"There's definitely the makings of a good team here, one that can challenge the best," he said.

Cooper is not expecting a repeat of last year's 50-10 scoreboard massacre of the Force but there is no doubt Queensland rugby clubs impacted by the recent devastating floods will be cheering on every score.

Major sponsor St George Bank has pledged to help them by providing $1500 for each Queensland Reds try scored, $200 for each conversion and $500 for every penalty goal and drop goal
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