TOKYO — WILL Genia believes the Melbourne Rebels can win next year’s Super Rugby competition after securing the missing piece of the puzzle: Quade Cooper.

After months of speculation, the Rebels finally unveiled Cooper as their latest recruit on Tuesday afternoon.

His arrival in Melbourne comes after being frozen out from the Queensland Reds by first-year coach Brad Thorn, who shut the door on Cooper’s career at Ballymore from the moment he signed on late last year — despite having two years left to run on his contract — seeking to change the culture of the club.

Thorn’s hard-line stance meant Cooper was left out in the cold, and as a result the 70 Test playmaker refused to move elsewhere and instead spent the season playing for Souths in Brisbane club rugby.

But desperate to put himself back in the frame to play for the Wallabies again, Cooper has opted to swallow his pride and move to the Rebels.

The decision is good news for both the Reds, who were desperately hoping to free up some cash, and his new club the Rebels, who were in need of a high-calibre playmaker to unleash their international backline.

Once the most exciting playmaker in the world, Cooper has never had the same explosive speed since suffering his knee injury against Wales during the 2011 World Cup third place playoff.

But like Australian cricket legend Dennis Lillee, who had to reinvent himself as a tearaway quick after breaking down, Cooper has been forced to add other elements to his game.

And Genia, who together with Cooper spearheaded their Super Rugby win over Thorn’s Crusaders in 2011, said that while his exuberant play didn’t always pay off, he could prove to be the difference for the Rebels in 2019, particularly given Wallabies playmaker Matt Toomua won’t arrive at the club from Leicester until the end of the Super Rugby season.

“The guy is a special player and he’s got some strengths that no other player has in the world,” Genia said.

“Some of the things (criticism of play) he brings onto himself, I’m not going to lie. But I think the majority of it is a bit unfair, that bandwagon mentality of people saying: ‘I’m going to spray him as well.’

“I know he’s going to have a huge impact on the group and he’ll definitely give us an opportunity to win the comp.”

While Cooper’s vision has never been questioned, Thorn turned his back on the mercurial playmaker for cultural reasons.

Although his defence would have had to improve under a Thorn-led Reds, the former dual international had heard rumours and seen first-hand that Cooper had become to big for his own boots and would, at times, go against the wishes of his coach and change the playbook set-up.

But Genia believed Cooper would be a good fit at the Rebels under highly respected young coach Dave Wessels.

“Well, for one, we need a No.10,” Genia said.

“I think he’ll work really well with Dave.

“He’s a young coach but very firm on what he wants from players and organisation. I think that direction will only be good for Quade.”

Meanwhile, Genia refused to criticise Thorn for his decision to turn away from Cooper.

“He’s come from the New Zealand rugby environment, where they believe in certain things, were culture’s important to him,” Genia said.

“Whether he’s right or wrong, he feels that a direction he wants to take.

“You’ve certainly got to give him credit for being strong in doing that, because it’s hard on Quade but it’s also hard on him to take that stance.

“I don’t think it’s right or wrong one way or another, but he’s certainly shown a lot of strength in making his decision and sticking by it.”

Ultimately though, he said that Cooper would find it more rewarding by returning to the Super Rugby circles.

“I have got sympathy for him because he loves the place as I do,” Genia said.

“We there a long, long time from tough times to building to success, obviously always emotional attachment, I just think the best thing for him is to get back to playing at this level just because he has so much to offer.

“If he can do that and find some consistency in his performance, I think he’ll find some solace in that rather than playing for Souths, as much as he would have enjoyed it, he deserves to be at this level and probably owes it to himself as well.”