Wright set for bruising start

LIAM Wright will begin his Queensland Reds captaincy sporting 17 stitches and a black eye thanks to two pre-season knees to the face, but he won’t be shying away from the action in the Super Rugby season opener in Canberra tonight.

Wright, 22, has vowed to keep putting his head “in some ugly places” in the Reds’ clash against the Brumbies.

The hosts will start as warm favourites, something Wright says is fair given their status as the only Australian outfit to make last season’s quarterfinals.

However, two impressive trial wins have filled coach Brad Thorn’s squad with confidence, despite the off-season departure of skipper Samu Kerevi to Japanese rugby and the fact the Reds haven’t played in the Super Rugby finals since 2013.

“They’re definitely the benchmark,” Wright said of the Brumbies, “but we’re not pitting ourselves against them, we’re pitting ourselves against ourselves.

“We got lots of good goforward last year but we’re trying to play a more expansive game without him (Kerevi).”

Isaac Lucas will wear the No.10 in a new-look backline that also features the creativity of James O’Connor and Jordan Petaia in the centres.

But Wright thinks the key tonight will be the Reds’ bigger men, with the side having held firm in that department against the Waratahs in a trial game last Friday in Dalby.

Backrower Wright did his bit with a try despite two separate, heavy knocks leaving him bloodied and bruised.

He doesn’t expect any sympathy from a Brumbies outfit that prides itself on its scrum

GIO STADIUM, 6.15PM

TomBanks 15 BryceHegarty SolomoneKata 14 Jock Campbell Tevita Kuridrani 13 Jordan Petaia

Irae Simone 12 James O’Connor TomWright 11 Henry Speight Noah Lolesio 10 Isaac Lucas JoePowell 9 Tate McDermott Pete Samu 8 Harry Wilson TomCusack 7 LiamWright(c) RobValetini 6 Angus Scott-Young MurrayDouglas 5 L Salakaia-Loto Darcy Swain 4 Angus Blyth AllanAlaalatoa(c) 3 TanielaTupou Folau Fainga’a 2 B Paenga-Amosa Scott Sio 1 JP Smith REPLACEMENTS

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“We want to combat that and go at them with our own,” Wright said.

“At the end of the day, at No.7 you put your head in some ugly places, so we’ll see how it holds up.”

The Reds will head straight to South Africa and then Argentina after their Canberra opener, as part of an arduous tour to begin their season.

“It’s good for a young team, there’s a lot of enthusiasm around it because a lot of the guys haven’t been on a trip like this before,” Wright said.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun, but we’re going there to win Super Rugby matches.”

IT’S the same old story for the Queensland Reds in 2020 – loads of potential.

Just like last year and the year before that.

They have a young talent pool that is the best in Australia – quality in every age group from the under 15s through to their academy program.

The only question for the Reds is: when are they going to come together to produce a Super Rugby season to remember?

The loss of skipper Samu Kerevi, which changes the way the team can play, along with the departures of fellow old stagers Scott Higginbottom, Sefa Naivalu and Caleb Timu, means the Reds now have only three players over the age of 30 in the squad, so they have plenty of youthful exuberance.

Get it right and they can be a finals contender, but they are coming from a low base and have little history of winning.

The Reds need a season where they contend – and then they can use it as a springboard to be a force in the future.

A season of six wins or less, again, under coach Brad Thorn would be unacceptable.

There is a saying in coaching that “it’s a player’s potential that ends up getting coaches sacked”.

Let’s hope this is not the future for this talented group of youngsters.

At the start of any season, to be a genuine threat in Super

Rugby you either need to have vital personnel locked down in key positions – prop, hooker, No.8, No.9, No.10 and fullback – or have the ability to unearth young stars who set the competition alight.

The Waratahs have a bit of both, but maybe not enough of either to be confident of their ability to win the competition.

They have solid starters in most positions but none who really stand out, which raises questions about the quality of the squad overall.

And who plays No.10 following the departure of Bernard Foley remains a mystery.

Kurtley Beale can play there, but I have never thought it his best position – most No.10s need to be curators of games rather than gamebreakers (of course on his day, Beale is both).

There are, however, positives for the Waratahs in the return of Jack Maddock and the early season form of Mark Nawaqanitawase and Angus Bell. The latter two could radically change the fortunes of the team if their development continues.

A new coaching team and new approach to the game might bring out the best in the youth and drag the rest of the squad into a winning mindset.

In Canberra, the Brumbies have looked to youth to fill their backline this season.

With no other option but to rely on inexperienced players,