Cooper fractures collarbone

Brisbane - Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks after fracturing his collarbone at training, team officials said on Friday.

The 26-year-old playmaker, who was out for 16 weeks last year with a shoulder joint injury, will have surgery on Tuesday.

The decision to have surgery was made on Friday after scans and a consultation with the Reds’ surgeon.

"It’s disappointing to lose Quade to such an innocuous collision during an opposed training session, but this is the nature of contact sport," Reds coach Richard Graham said.

"Fortunately, we’ve recruited well in the off-season and we’re comfortable we have a number of options available to us.” 

Cooper said he was gutted to be missing the start of the season.

"But injury setbacks are something you learn to deal with and this isn’t the first time I’ve had to come back from something like this," he said.

"There’s a lot of excitement among the (Reds) group for the season, so it’s good motivation for me to give myself every chance of getting back on the field as soon as possible.”

The hardest part of any injury is knowing you can't help your team mates on the field..

— Quade Cooper (@QuadeCooper) January 23, 2015

Gutted to say the least.. Disappointed I won't be able to start the 2015 season with my team mates after breaking my collarbone last night..

— Quade Cooper (@QuadeCooper) January 23, 2015