Vunivalu has big Red shoes to fill

While the Queensland Reds are loudly hailing the arrival of a potential matchwinner in Melbourne Storm flyer Suliasi Vunivalu, they have quietly said farewell to a player who once looked like filling that same role for them, former Wallaby Chris Feauai-Sautia.

His omission from the final Reds squad had been widely telegraphed but when Queensland released their player list for the 2021 Super Rugby season it still came as a jolt to realise that the 27-year-old had been let go just as he should have been coming into his rugby prime. To be fair, any unease among fans would have been shared by Reds coach Brad Thorn and other senior Queensland officials because FeauaiSautia, who played two Tests for Australia back in 2013, has always been viewed as a gamebreaker over the nine years he had spent at Ballymore.

He was signed to a full contract by the then Reds coach Ewen McKenzie while he was still at school at Brisbane State High in 2011, perhaps not surprisingly considering he had just played for the Australian Schoolboys for his third straight year as the most capped Australian Schoolboy of all time.

Yet though Feauai-Sautia went on to play 81 games for the Reds injuries constantly undermined him and played havoc with his match fitness. The Reds even entertained the idea of signing him to a parttime contract, but in the end it was decided the more honourable course was to release him to explore his options overseas.

Certainly his highlights reel would be a showstopper and though he departs never quite having lived up to expectations, he still leaves oversized shoes for Vunivalu to fill.