REDS SEASON PREVIEW

by Paul Cook –

With Ewen McKenzie moving onto the international coaching stage with the Wallabies, Richard Graham steps up to take the reins as Reds head coach after a year of getting his feet under the door under McKenzie’s stewardship. A crushing loss to the Crusaders in the first play-off round last year has led to some soul searching at Ballymore in the off-season as to how they go about recapturing the glories of their title year in 2011.

Struggling for tries in 2013, there’s been a heavy focus on attack on the training paddock and a renewed mission statement to entertain will be music to the ears of the Reds faithful. Older heads Radike Samo and Adam Wallace-Harrison have now departed but with a batch of promising young talent waiting to be unleashed onto the Super Rugby scene and Quade Cooper firmly back in the groove, the Reds could once again become everyone’s second team.

Rugby News chatted to Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia and exciting young flanker Ed Quirk this week, to discuss the season ahead.

You made the finals last year but went out in week one – what did the Reds take from 2013?

Will Genia: Obviously, a little bit of confidence in knowing that we put ourselves in a position to make the play-offs but I think the disappointment of not pushing on past that stage is probably the biggest thing we’ve taken into this year. I know that may sound silly but for us, we don’t want to accept just being good enough to be there or thereabouts, we want to be good enough to win the competition so that’s driven us on to work even harder to make sure that when and if we put ourselves in the same position, then we want to go further and we know what it takes.

Ed Quirk: The team had a good year and it’s good that we’re making the quarter-finals and semi-finals as we have the last two years but we want to push back to 2011 and push for higher privileges. We’re a good enough team to do better and we’ve gone into this season wanting to get to the top.

There were some notable results, particularly a win over the Chiefs in Hamilton, but what could have been a stellar year faltered with two losses in South Africa and against the Reds bogey side, the Western Force?

WG: Yeah, I think the Force have always been a bit of a bogey team for us and we can look back and argue that if we’d beaten them or had a little bit more success on the South African leg of the season that we’d have maybe finished a little bit better and played a different side in the play-offs but we were good enough to put ourselves in a position to be in the play-offs, we were just outplayed by a very good Crusaders side on the night.

Will Genia is fit and raring to go for 2014

EQ: It’s quite tough going over to South Africa and playing and most teams struggle but we’ve been together as a squad for a while now and we know each others games so we need to take advantage of those away games and lift for them them as well as the games at Suncorp Stadium. It’s a tough road trip with all the acclimatising etc but the more times you do it, the more you get used to it so while it is a tough trip for a number of reasons, you have to learn to adapt and make it just another game of rugby.

Any idea why the Force always seem to cause the Reds a few problems?

WG: It’s interesting, obviously now with Richard Graham being the coach he told us that when he was at the Force, the Reds was always a game that they got up for. They felt that they were compared to Queensland as a Queensland B side and always being an underdog and never having an opportunity to prove themselves, so it was always the one game that they really got up for.

That win over the Chiefs must give the squad the belief that you have what it takes to win another title, is it just a case of consistency?

EQ: It is about consistency, we’ve got the cavalry and the depth here at the moment so there’s no reason why injuries that can take a toll throughout the season should be a factor. We can play at a level that is up there with the best teams in the comp but consistency is a major factor, putting in week in, week out and having consistent games rather than having a blinder one week and dropping off the next is vital.

WG: It definitely gives us confidence knowing that we beat the Chiefs in both of the last two seasons when they went on to win it. We know we can compete against the big teams in the competition, it’s now more a case of winning games against teams that we should beat on paper. We’ve been dropping games where we’re expected to win and winning games which are more fifty/fifty or in favour of the opposition.

How was pre-season?

WG: It’s been really good, there’s a lot of young guys who have been given their opportunity that have come from the club ranks but as a whole, everyone’s trained really, really well. We’ve been training for three or four months now so the boys are just looking forward to getting out there and playing.

Richard Graham was obviously at the Reds under Ewen McKenzie’s watchful eye last season, how has his transition into head coach in his own right gone so far?

WG: It’s gone really well. Obviously, he served a sort of apprenticeship for a year under Ewen and got the feel of the club and the players, how we do things and how to interact with us so it’s been a really smooth transition for the players.

EQ: As you said, Richard was with us during the time we had with Link and it’s good to have him and Stilesy [forwards coach Nick Stiles] and [attack coach] Steve Meehan around as ex-Queenslanders because they’ve really tapped in to what it means to play here and everyone’s been open to change and is extremely happy with the transition and with moving forward.

Has that been an important cultural input – having ex-Queenslanders coaching the Reds?

EQ: You get your pre-game talks and training etc and these guys have been there and represented the state and grown up here and gone to school here and while they’ve done well on their travels and done well as coaches, I think it’s quite a good feeling for them to get back to where they started and coaching the team that they used to play for is probably the little cherry on top.

REDS INS & OUTS

Has there been any significant changes in game style under the new regime or just a bit of fine tuning?

EQ: They’ve really wanted to push our skills because we’re wanting to score more tries, as last year we weren’t finishing them off. The coaches have always been open to the fact that everyone is talented enough to play rugby and that’s what they want. You can push as many structures as you want on the park but at the end of the day, you’ve got to play what’s in front of you and play footy and they’re really open to that.

WG: I think we realised we had to change. We can’t exactly continue to play the same way that we’ve always done as a squad because we come unstuck against opposition sides that look to really put pressure on us in play-off games. I guess you can expect a little bit of change and a little bit of fine tuning with the way we do things but nothing too drastic.

Can we look forward to the Reds becoming the ‘Great Entertainers’ again then?

WG: Definitely. We enjoy having the reputation of being a side that entertains but also wins. We’re in the entertainment industry and what pays the bills is people coming to watch and people getting interested in the game. We’ve spent a lot of time on attack and utilised all the skills that we can within the group, not only at nine and ten and in the backs but looking to involve the forwards more with passing skills and a little bit of playmaking as well.

Having Quade Cooper back to his best will play a large part in that, he looked to have rediscovered his mojo at the end of last year?

WG: Quade’s been firing and playing well and he’s one of the best players in the world so he definitely helps in terms of giving us confidence to continue to play the way we want to play and everyone feeds off that.

EQ: With the responsibility of being the Wallaby vice-captain he’s really holding himself well, he’s a leader now and he’s really found his form. He’s a great player to play with, you don’t always know what he’s going to do but you’ve always got to be there and be ready to go.

Will, it must be great as a no.9 to have the running options that you have alongside you in this squad?

WG: Absolutely, as a halfback you want options, you want attacking threats everywhere which opens up space for the team. With options outside you, whether that be at 10, 12, 13 or 15, guys that can genuinely play-make it gives the 9 an opportunity to play-make and run as well.

Ed Quirk had a breakthrough season in 2013

You start the season with trips to Canberra and Sydney, how important are these early derby rounds in terms of laying down a marker against the other Australian sides?

EQ: They’re two games that we need to win, they’re pretty crucial. If you can get wins under the belt early on, it puts you in good stead and the local derbies are the ones that you look for and the ones that everyone lives for and plays for.

WG: The local derbies are quite important, obviously, if you finish top of your conference, you automatically qualify for the finals and there’s a lot at stake in terms of reputation and the rivalries. We want to do well and we want bragging rights as well.

You’ve lost some experienced guys in the off-season such as Radike Samo and Adam Wallace-Harrison but gained some quality players such as Lachie Turner, how are the new recruits settling in?

WG: They’re looking really, really good, we did lose some experienced players but we’ve gained some experience with guys who are actually still quite young but have played a lot of footy, like Lachie. On top of him, we’ve got guys that we’ve picked up through the club rugby ranks, guys like JJ Taulagi and Samu Kerevi who have really impressed in pre-season training and are looking to make the most of the opportunities that they’ve been given.

EQ: They’ve adapted pretty quickly to the culture here and how we do things and guys like Lachie Turner have come in ready to rock. He’s a really good bloke and we’ve taken him in and the first time he wore the Queensland jersey he bagged a try so he was really proud. The younger guys have also adopted the training style and the way we play the game and it’s just been a case of getting them up to speed with the systems and they’re loving it.

Who could be the Reds breakout player of 2014?

WG: It’s hard to tell, we’ve got a few good young blokes who all want to make more of a mark on Super Rugby, guys like Chris Feaui-Seutia, Benny Tapuai and we’ve got a guy called Aidan Toua who is playing fullback for us at the moment and he’s really looking forward to getting his opportunity. There’s a lot of guys that have been around the ranks a while but want to make a mark and then older blokes who still want to be playing good footy as well.

EQ: I reckon Gilly [Liam Gill]. He’s been consistent every year and he’s had a great pre-season this year coming back off the Wallabies Spring Tour and yeah, another one to watch would be Aidan Toua. He’s been at the Reds for a while now but he’s had a lot of problems with his hamstrings in previous years. He’s done a full pre-season and the way he performed in the trial match against the Chiefs was just outstanding.

What about your own aspirations for 2014 Will, are you happy with where your game is at right now?

WG: I’m really happy, I’ve worked really hard on little specific skill areas of my game that I want to be better at and I’ve worked really hard on my conditioning. I think for me, at this stage, it’s probably more a mental thing than anything else. I’ve had a good break since the end of last season and I’ve come back refreshed and this time of the year is the best for me, I love playing for Queensland so I’m really looking forward to it.

You were a dominant force for the Wallabies against the Lions last winter but how much did that series take out of you?

WG: To be honest, it did take out a fair bit. I’m not one to make excuses for poor performances but when I look back on it, it still upsets me that we lost and that in itself tells me how emotional it was for me and how much you invest in it physically and mentally. It did take a bit out of me but as I said, I did get a good rest at the end of the year and I’m just looking forward to this season.

You were dropped to the bench for a couple of Wallaby matches in the Rugby Championship, did you yourself feel that you weren’t quite at your best at the time and that maybe a rest or a bit of a jolt was a good thing?

WG: A bit of both, I think that’s a really good way of putting it, I needed a rest and I needed a jolt. It’s one of those things where you can get a little bit complacent at times, you actually don’t realise it, it’s not something you do consciously but when you’ve been doing it for a little while, you can get a little bit complacent in how you go about things so for me, it was really good to get that kick up the backside but also get a rest. I spent two games on the bench, I didn’t play any minutes in the first one, played forty off the bench in the next one and then I was back starting so it was something I really needed I think.

Richard Graham assumes head coaching responsibilities at the Reds for the new season

What about your own aspirations for 2014 Ed?

EQ: Well, I went into last year having had a lot of injuries and didn’t have a lot of game time behind me so I didn’t set the standards too high but it was the first injury free pre-season that I’d had at the Reds and I really trained hard. I was really hungry for that no.6 spot so my goal was get a regular starting spot and I did that but I can’t really bank on last year now, I want to be playing better footy and change my game a bit more in order to go to that next level.

What areas of your game have you focused on improving in the off-season?

EQ: I’ve been working a lot on the attacking aspects of my game and just keeping up to date with the defensive systems and trying to become a better player. I feel like it’s a case of going back to square one, it’s a new season and a new squad so that hunger for me to be a regular starter is still there. Any kind of ‘second season syndrome’ for me is a mental challenge, I want to improve my rugby and my potential.

All young Australian rugby players have that intrinsic desire to pull on the Wallaby jersey, is that a possibility that’s too far away on the horizon for you right now?

EQ: I’m focusing on the Reds having a good year and on myself and being a starter and playing really consistent and good footy. It’s every players dream to play for their country and pull on the green and gold so if that comes at some point further down the track that’s a huge bonus but for the moment it’s all about the Reds for me, being consistent and getting some games under my belt.

How do you see the Australian conference going this year?

WG: The Brumbies are obviously coming in off the back of a good season last year so they’ll have that confidence pushing them through this year and I think the Waratahs will be a really good side this year too, they’ll be one to watch out for. They’ve developed this new playing style where they are looking to be a bit more free-flowing and they started to really get the hang of it towards the back end of the year so again, like the Brumbies, they’ll take that confidence through into this new season.

EQ: I think anybody can take it out this year. The Brumbies have pretty much the same squad as they had last year, you see the Rebels in their trial matches and they’ve come a long way, the Western Force have been training very hard and the Tahs squad this year has a fair amount of depth and you’re wondering where they’re going to put them all. As with previous years, you don’t know who’s going to finish on top but the Brumbies were grand finalists last year so they’re probably the ones to watch out for.

What about the competition in general, who do you like the look of from New Zealand and South Africa?

WG: In South Africa you’ve got the Stormers who always seem to play really well. They’ve been the best defensive side in the competition for a while now and it’s something that they do really well and then you’ve got the Bulls and the Sharks also.

EQ: The usual suspects I would think, the Crusaders always come home hard in their conference so they’ll be one to watch again.

Finally, what do the Reds have to do better in 2014 if they are to really challenge for that title again?

WG: I think we have to be better in the contact area and at the breakdown, if we can sort that area out that will give us the opportunity to play the fast, free-flowing footy that we enjoy.

EQ: We just need to play our game and stick to what we do best. We’re a very tough team and a very tight-knit team and we’ve spoken about going out there and enjoying it. There’s a serious aspect to the game’s going into them but we do want to enjoy our rugby and have some fun with it along the way because that’s what it’s all about. We want to play an open brand of rugby and give it everything we’ve got with our firepower and enjoy ourselves.