Former Waratahs No.8 Wycliff Palu and incumbent second-rower Will Skelton were at their aggressive best when the teams last met in Wellington in 2015.

NSW came up trumps that evening, running out 29-24 winners, which was their third win from their past four starts in Wellington.

Hooper believes the key to victory lies in the Waratahs big men and their ability to throw as much as they can at the Hurricanes in the middle of the field.

"We need our big guys to turn up," Hooper said. "You've got to get them off their game somehow. Sometimes they pull out some really incredible stuff so to get them playing and have something in the back of their mind they're worried about, that is certainly something we need to think about."

If there is anyone in the Waratahs forward pack with extra motivation it is Skelton, who announced on Wednesday he was leaving Australian rugby at the end of the season for a two-year stint with Saracens in England.

Furthermore, it is unclear whether Skelton reads newspapers but some brutal comments from New Zealand Herald columnist Chris Rattue that the 140kg monster was nothing more than "just another Wallaby loser" might have hit a nerve.

If the Waratahs can utilise Skelton's anger, they will be more likely to create an upset at Westpac Stadium.

"He's such a big guy and to move that body around I know is hard and taxing but every time he gets an involvement to make a difference on the game, it's got to be a good one," Hooper said. "I know he wants to get it right. He doesn't want to be wasting his opportunities to make an impact. He's working on it."

Despite the fact the Hurricanes have rested the competition's leading try-scorer Vince Aso and All Black winger Julian Savea, who is equal second overall for five-pointers, Hooper knows there are still a number of high-quality players intent on inflicting further scoreboard pain on an Australian opposition.

The Hurricanes have won their past four home games against Australian teams by an average of 34 points, with the 71-6 shellacking of the Melbourne Rebels earlier this year serving as a stark reminder of what can happen if the Waratahs are not switched on.

"They're still rolling out a pretty sharp team," Hooper said. "They've got a plethora of good players all the time, so I don't think they'd be taking us lightly if anything from previous years is anything to go by.

"For our standings on the table, picking up a win will make it look a lot more appealing. Every other [Australian] team has had a bye now so you're waiting for that to come up even, so we need to get a win. We want to get a win, we want to beat a Kiwi team."

The Waratahs have the chance to become the first Australian team this year to beat a New Zealand side following a miserable zero from 11 start.

Daryl Gibson's men lost both matches across the ditch last year, going down to the Crusaders and Blues.

Asked whether consistent defeats to New Zealand teams had affected morale, Hooper replied: "It almost gets you more enthusiastic because you want to be the team that breaks it. We've only played one Kiwi team this year - other than the trials of course - and we have a second shot at it this weekend and we're super keen to notch that up and be the team to do it."