Reds primed for Super Rugby tilt

Queensland Reds captain Liam Wright believes the Reds are perfectly placed to take the final step and win a title after retaining 31 players from last year’s program ahead of the 2021 Super Rugby season.

The Reds continue to invest in developing elite talent at Ballymore with 89 per cent of the current 37-man squad unveiled on Monday having come through the Reds Academy programs or played junior rugby for Queensland.

Now fuelled by the pain of losing the 2020 Australian grand final to the ACT Brumbies, Wright declared the Reds are primed for sustained success. “We’ve built something good that the whole changeroom really enjoys each other’s company,” Wright (pictured) said. “They know they are going to work hard for each other, and we’ve done a pretty good job in the last couple of years connecting to Queensland. 90 per cent of the boys have come through the pathways, so they really want to play for their home state.

“There have been times before when we have let people go and lost some really good talent that had come through our club pathways.

“It is sort of that conveyor belt. We’ve got Queensland really churning out talent and it is really a proud rugby state.

“It is just up to us how we use the talent and how they can contribute to our squad.”

The Reds will also be bolstered by the addition of five Developing Squad players with Ben Grant, Brothers’ duo Hudson Creighton and Matt Faessler, plus University’s Sam Wallis and Wests’ Isaac Henry all handed part-time contracts.