Quade Cooper will make his Wallabies return from the bench but his longtime halves partner Will Genia has again been overlooked for Saturday night’s third Bledisloe Cup Test.

Halfback Genia has trained with Australia’s squad for the last five weeks but will be a mere spectator for the fourth straight Test at Suncorp Stadium against the All Blacks.

In contrast, five eighth Cooper has been rushed straight back into the team for his first international this year as the Wallabies have lost playmaking cover with Kurtley Beale suspended indefinitely over his texting scandal.

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Also playing his first Test minutes for 2014 will be inside centre Christian Leali’ifano, who is one of two changes to the starting 15 which suffered the 21-17 loss to Argentina 10 days ago.

Leali’ifano, who made the No.12 jersey his own for the first nine Tests of last year, replaces injured Brumbies teammate Matt Toomua (concussion) while lineout general Rob Simmons returns from his own head knock.

Despite their lack of game time since injury-affected Super Rugby campaigns, coach Ewen McKenzie backed Leali’ifano and Cooper (shoulder, hip) to thrive against the world champion All Blacks who are desperate to atone from their last-start loss to South Africa.

“They’re two experienced players who have performed at a high level for Australia before, and you can’t discount the value of experience in these big games,” McKenzie said.

“Quade has had a lot of great memories at Suncorp Stadium, and we’ll be looking for him to provide the same impact should he get called on late in the game.”

The last time the mercurial Cooper played New Zealand in Brisbane he pulled the strings for a Tri-Nations series triumph in 2011, and gave All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw a stray knee in the process.

It was Genia who was the man-of-the-match that night but he’s currently rated the third best No.9 behind Nick Phipps and Nic White following ankle surgery.

Under immense pressure following back-to-back losses to the Springboks and Pumas, as well as the fallout from Beale’s spat with former business manager Di Patston, McKenzie said the Wallabies were intent on preparing well for the clash.

“The group has spoken about the importance of this week’s game and ensuring the focus remains on our preparation and putting the team in the best possible position to win the game on Saturday night,” he said.

Popular vice-captain Adam Ashley-Cooper will become the sixth Wallaby to play 100 Tests when he runs out on the wing.

“It’s a massive honour and a true testament of his ability to play at a consistently high level over such a long period of time,” McKenzie said.

Wallabies squad:

Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Leali’ifano, Joe Tomane, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps; Scott Higginbotham, Michael Hooper (capt), Scott Fardy, Rob Simmons, Sekope Kepu, Saia Fainga’a, James Slipper. Res: Josh Mann-Rae, Benn Robinson, Ben Alexander, James Horwill, Matt Hodgson, Nic White, Quade Cooper, Rob Horne.