Wallabies halfback Will Genia said his long-time teammate Quade Cooper would "kill it" in the NRL and conceded the five-eighth's interest in the Parramatta Eels appeared genuine.

Genia said he had yet to speak to Cooper about his contract saga but was keen to get in his ear as Australia prepare for their tour of South Africa.

There has been speculation that Cooper could earn in excess of $500,000 a year if he switched to rugby league.

"He's waiting upstairs in my room, I'll go up and have a chat to him and maybe I'll let you know later on," Genia told the press on Monday.

The pair have struck up a brilliant combination for Queensland since they first played together as 16-year-olds.

Genia hopes the carrot of playing in the rugby World Cup will be enough to keep Cooper in the 15-a-side game but admitted the NRL posed a real threat.

"I'd say so, the fact that I've read he's sat down and had dinner with the Eel's CEO and Jarryd Hayne and he's had a few other meetings with them," Genia said.

"The fact is he started off playing rugby league when he was younger, so I think the interest is genuine, but as far as a decision goes, we'll just have to wait and see.

"You'd think for any aspiring rugby union player, the chance to play in a World Cup for your country is massive.

"To finish off your career and say `I represented my country in a World Cup' is an absolute honour and an absolute dream but it comes down to his ambitions and whether it's enough to stay in this game or whether he's got more ambitions and more of a passion in the other game.

"I'll have a word to him and say, `look, what are you thinking of doing, what are your reasons, and we'd love to have you stay' and hopefully that's enough."

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