Quade Cooper believes his controversial boxing debut will make him a mentally tougher rugby player.
Cooper struggled under the immense World Cup pressure in New Zealand 14 months ago, but he feels the challenging preparation for his February 8 bout has helped take his mental powers to a new level.
The Wallabies and Queensland Reds playmaker has no doubt he'll come out of his fight against Barry Dunnett a much improved player - physically and mentally.
"Mentally, boxing makes you a whole lot stronger and some of the training things I've had to go through are things I never thought possible and I've pushed my body to whole new limits.
"So I'm very excited about the rugby season and the fight just around the corner."
