Rebels recruit Quade Cooper insists he doesn't need to change as he looks to kick-start his Super Rugby career with his shift to Melbourne.
The former Wallabies playmaker had his first training session with his new team after spending last season exiled by Reds coach Brad Thorn who said he didn't fit their new culture.
Cooper felt that situation was "forced on him" and he's looking to build a strong relationship with Rebels coach Dave Wessels.
"I don't think it's about changing anything - my situation wasn't about me," Cooper said on Monday.
In a dig at Thorn, the 30-year-old said Wessels was key to his move south.
"I've got a lot of respect for him, with him taking the time to come up and get to know me as a person and talk to me about football and we were able to work out the future," Cooper said.
"I was grateful that he was able to make his own judgment."
Despite the obvious carrot of the 2019 World Cup in Japan, Cooper said he hadn't thought about it and was only focused on the Rebels at this point.
At Melbourne he will link back up with Will Genia in the halves, with the pair looking to relive 2011 when they steered Queensland to the Super title.
"It's exciting and hopefully we can make some new memories," he said.
Wessels said Cooper would be a strong addition to their star-studded backline, which has lacked a match-winning No.10.
"We feel Quade is the type of player that we feel suits the way we want to play," Wessels said.
"Whether that happens remains to be seen because there's a lot of hard work between where we are now and actually implementing that.'
"If Quade's prepared to work hard we are going to get on fine."
Wessels said Cooper, at his best, had the X-factor the Rebels needed to improve on last season's ninth-placed finish.
"It's my job to create the framework and then within that you expect players of world class calibre such as Quade and Will to produce some magic.
"That's probably the difference between the really top teams as those players produce the magic at the right time."