Barbarians captain and out of favour Wallaby Quade Cooper is talking up playing in the NRC finals rather than making a last-ditch bid for the upcoming spring tour.
The veteran five-eighth, who will lead the Barbarians out against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday, played his 70th and most recent Test against Italy in June and wasn't used in the Rugby Championship.
Bernard Foley is firmly entrenched as Wallaby pivot, with coach Michael Cheika using inside centre Kurtley Beale as his backup and Cooper considered more of a long shot to make the tour.
Saturday's game looms as a last chance for players on both sides to stake a claim for a tour spot, with the squad announced over the weekend.
Cooper said he felt he was finding form but wasn't treating the match like an audition.
"I'm not really thinking about anything that's out of my control," he said on Friday.
'When we're talking about the NRC, there's still a few more games for that and I'll be watching closely tomorrow when the boys play NSW Country.
"Hopefully we can get the win and then we'll be able to have a finals run in the next two weeks, so I'm backing our team and looking forward to hopefully being a part of a NRC finals series."
Cooper's Brisbane City NRC team play NSW Country Eagles in Orange early Saturday afternoon in a match that will determine a semi-final spot.
Chieka has spoken positively about the 29-year-old playmaker.
"I do want to see him prosper and playing good football," he said. "He's been doing that in the NRC and thats been noted."
"Now he's a chance to do it against both his competitors and his colleagues."
Cooper has been plagued by injury in recent years but in 2017 has played almost a full season.
"It's been a great thing for myself to just be out on the field and I feel like I'm finding form and I feel like I'm enjoying my rugby, which is the main thing," he said.
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