Quade Cooper's rollercoaster rugby union career has hit another down, with the former Wallaby playmaker set to look overseas for a new home after falling out of favour with new Queensland Reds coach Brad Thorn.
The Reds' most-capped back with 117 appearances, 29-year-old Cooper appears to no longer be part of Queensland's plans.
Both Cooper and halfback Nick Frisby, who won five Test caps off the bench in 2016, are on the outer, despite being contracted to the Reds for nest year.
The Reds won't stand in either man's way if they're offered a contract elsewhere.
"I've had honest conversations with Quade Cooper and Nick Frisby about where they currently sits in our plans for 2018," Thorn said.
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"They are not training with the Reds at the moment and will be training with training their club instead."
Skilful playmaker's Cooper's 70-Test career also appears over, after having been left out of coach Michael Cheika's Wallabies squad since his last match against Italy five months ago.
Cooper was brought back by Queensland in 2015 from French club Toulon and still has two seasons left on his Reds contract.
He is again likely to seek overseas options with very little chance of being secured by another Australian Super Rugby franchise.
The Brumbies confirmed on Sunday they already had a full roster for next year.
The Rebels, who have signed Cooper's long-term Reds and Wallabies halves partner Will Genia, said they were too advanced in their planning for 2018 to consider him.
NSW have first-choice Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley firmly entrenched as their starting No.10.
Japanese or European clubs could potentially offer Cooper a new home.
Australian under-20s star Hamish Stewart is the only other specialist five-eighth on the Reds roster, though emerging centre Duncan Paia'aua played at 10 for the Wallabies against the Barbarians this year and could also fill that spot.
Frisby, 25, lost his starting spot to James Tuttle over the last few rounds of this year's Super Rugby competition.
The Reds still have three other halfbacks on their books apart from Frisby in Tuttle, Moses Sorovi and uncapped Tate McDermott.
With former Wallabies hooker and captain Stephen Moore deciding not to play on next year and legendary Test back-rower George Smith's future clouded by a potentially career-ending back injury, the Reds are undergoing a changing of the guard under Thorn.
With a glut of good young locks emerging, Queensland had previously released experienced Wallabies lock Rob Simmons.
Dual rugby code international Thorn is clearly investing in local youth after enjoying success with the Queensland under-20 Super teams in 2016-17 and leading Queensland Country to the 2017 NRC title.
