Quade Cooper is set to be out for up to 12 weeks after fracturing his collar bone.

The Queensland Reds playmaker will miss the opening rounds of the new Super Rugby season, and hopes to avoid any more injury setbacks with the World Cup due to start in September.

"I'm gutted to be missing the start of the season," Cooper said. "But injury setbacks are something you learn to deal with and this isn't the first time I've had to come back from something like this. There's a lot of excitement among the group for the season, so it's good motivation for me to give myself every chance of getting back on the field as soon as possible."

Reds head coach Richard Graham added: "It's disappointing to lose Quade to such an innocuous collision during an opposed training session, but this is the nature of contact sport. Fortunately, we've recruited well in the off-season and we're comfortable we have a number of options available to us."

Cooper missed a large part of the 2014 season after undergoing shoulder and hip surgery.