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Michael Hooper says he’s “not cured” of mindset issues that resulted in him leaving the Wallabies during The Rugby Championship, but will look back on the period as a “great time in my life” due to the support he’s received.
Hooper spoke to media from the Wallabies tour base in France for the first time since leaving Argentina just before the opening Test of TRC.
In a 14-minute interview that flew by, Hooper did not rule out returning as captain in the future or even playing at next year’s World Cup, but said his focus was on getting back on the field and supporting incumbent James Slipper.
Michael Hooper. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
He was frank about his current state of mind and what led him to walk out on his teammates, although admitted at one stage that his answers around the precise reasoning sounded vague.
On returning to international rugby
“I’m excited to be back at this stage,” Hooper said. “I’m also realistic, knowing that the last time I was in here it didn’t quite work out.
“So I’m back, putting myself in this position because I want to be here.
“I’ve got great support around me here and I’m realistic that there’s going to be some really good days and there’s going to be some days that the realities of travel and rugby and stuff are difficult.
“But I think that’s part of the whole journey and part of doing what we do, the whole rollercoaster.”
On what happened in Argentina
“I’d been playing the game for a long time, had some great changes in my life happen this year and I think there was a lot of things running through my head that showed up in Argentina,” said Hooper. “And Argentina wasn’t the place where I needed or was able to sort those things out.”
He didn’t elaborate, but he and his wife had a child early in 2022. He also suffered after effects of a high shot in Super Rugby this season that he described at the time as a “pretty significant knock” that left him rattled for a few weeks.
“I wanted to be around family, I wanted to be in a place that I could put the time in to those things I needed to put in,” Hooper said.
“And that doesn’t mean that I’m sitting here now completely cured. It’s not like that at all, it’s just that at that point in time I needed to be somewhere else and that wasn’t Argentina.
“I know that’s quite vague but I’m still getting my head around it, you know.
“It’s not that long ago but I’m feeling at a place now where I’m keen to be here.”
Telling coach Dave Rennie that he had to leave the tour was tough.
“I’ve got high expectations for myself, and pulling out of a game is certainly right up there with something I couldn’t have seen myself doing. So of course, it was hard.”
On whether homesickness played a role in his decision
“It’s an element for sure, but that’s always been a factor for me … and for a lot of players and staff as well,” Hooper said.
“We travel a lot and that’s part of the amazing things about what we do, but it’s tough.
“It’s recognising that that is OK and it’s part of the human experience to want to be somewhere else. But duty calls for you to be in a certain place.”
On if his body needed the rest
“My body was pretty good, it was more my mindset,” said Hooper.
“I’m at the point of my career where any extra weeks of rest are helpful but I want to play and be in good condition.
“But most importantly I want to be the best I can for the team and I wasn’t in that state of mind there, to be able to do that.
“And that’s what made… it was a difficult decision but also quite a straightforward decision in the sense that I wasn’t right. History is history, what happened happened.”
On seeking help
Hooper said he has received wide-ranging help to aid his recovery.
“What kind of help? All types. As a younger man I viewed asking for help as a bit of a weakness,” Hooper said.
“You want to feel like you have it all worked out. I certainly didn’t. The beautiful thing about rugby and the hard thing about sport is there’s always the next goal so you can move on and you can move on quick.
“In terms of the help, my wife has been amazing throughout this period. I’m very lucky and grateful for the support she has given me.
“My parents, family and friends … and I’m also lucky in the sense that, I’m in a time where I was well supported, from not only my employers, but also the wider public as well around this decision.
“We’re in a time where that stuff is heard more and more. [There was] professional help, sports therapists and reading a hell of a lot of books. I’ll look back on this period and going through it – it’s part of life, it’s part of being human – as a great time in my life. I’m lucky to have that support.”
On if it was a sudden decision to leave rugby behind, of if he had considered it for a while
“It was probably exacerbated being overseas, away from home, and stuff like that, but certainly with where I’m at in my career and things like that you start to look at at post rugby,” said Hooper.
“I’ve got a family now. So there’s a lot more elements than being a 22 year old (where you’re) pretty much just concerned about yourself.
“I think that played into it. Had it been going on for a while? Yeah and that’s only natural that as an athlete. There’s going to be a transition point in my career, and all of our careers, so thinking about that, was certainly a factor. “
On if he knew straight away if he would return to playing or wanted to go through a process before deciding
“Initially from getting home, I started, as you do as an athlete, putting in a plan to get back, and that didn’t quite work for me,” Hooper said.
“Initially, I’d say I want to be back by this time. As you can imagine our lives are so regimented by games and tournaments and the next thing that comes up so it’s really easy to put a plan in and my life’s been dictated a lot by schedule.
“So there’s this tournament coming up, or we’ve got the Bledisloe here or a three-game series there or a Spring Tour there. And putting that expectation on myself that I would be right by a certain point didn’t work.
“So I had to sort of strip back a little bit. Rugby Australia were extremely supportive of my decision when they called and would ask and check in firstly with how I was physically and mentally, it was all about how I’m doing, and with no pressure on how that looked in coming back.
“That gave me a nice bit of comfort to be able to go ‘OK, well I’ve got the support here to be able to take the time and do what I needed to do.'”
On the captaincy – present and future
When Hooper was named in the tour party, Rennie suggested the decision to not restore him to the captaincy was one made by the coaches.
Asked what his view of the captaincy was and his thoughts about taking it back over in the future, he made it clear he has “complete support of Slips.
“He supported me for a long time and he was an amazing person throughout my whole captaincy. He’s got my utmost support in however he needs it,” Hooper said.
“What he’s said to me is he wants me to come back and enjoy my rugby and compete and he understands that what’s good for the team is me going well. First and foremost, mentally and physically, but secondly, if I can be in a good space with those two things, then I’m probably going to be playing pretty good rugby and he’s happy with that.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“In terms of coming to the decision, it was some calls that I’d had between staff and myself throughout those times. We fleshed out these things. There were no agendas from anyone.
“This is very much a fluid, moving thing and the decision just felt quite natural in the end, to get on this tour and to not have the level of responsibility that I had previously and to be able to focus on myself and what Slips is wanting to see from me.”
He was less clear on the question of a return to the helm for the World Cup.
“What I’ve learned is it’s a long way away,” Hooper said. “We’re talking about this tour and this tour, for me, selfishly, is getting back on the park and earning my way back into the team and getting to a good standard of football.
“On the team side of things, I do have a wealth of experience in this outfit, and I want to be able to pass that on to younger players and also be an assistance to the guys like Slips and Allan [Alaalatoa] and Dave and the coaching staff.”
And as for playing at the tournament in France next year?
“Those experiences [World Cups] are amazing to be a part of but I’m also realistic. You can get injured going into a World Cup year and miss it. You look at like Matty Philip.
“We’re flying out and the guy gets injured on the way out. You have no control over some of these things, and I guess I’ve tried to control a lot of how it would look for myself.
“Part of things that led to the situation I was in is trying to put undue control on things. The World Cup is certainly a great cherry but why I play is I love competing, I love being part of this team.
“It’s not a forever thing. I watched the games and there were some things I missed about being in the environment and they were about competing.
“I missed watching the games and being out there and being with the team and representing and that stuff, so that was the lure to get back to and try and realise my potential in the game.”