Reds to start rookie flyhalf
THERE have been four glory eras of Queensland rugby over the past 45 years and all have been ignited by a precocious talent emerging to guide the show in the No. 10 jersey.
No one is yet heaping pressure on Hamish Stewart as the fifth beacon even though every finger, arm and leg is crossed at Reds HQ for him to one day develop that way.
He has been nurtured through 10 cameos off the bench to reach this afternoon’s breakout opportunity as starting flyhalf against South Africa’s top- rated Lions at Suncorp Stadium.
He is still a kid just as Paul McLean ( 1973), Michael Lynagh ( 1982), Elton Flatley ( 1996) and Quade Cooper ( 2006) were when first playing flyhalf for Queensland.
It’s simplistic to say the stout Stewart, 20, radiates similar qualities but there are glimpses. He tackles fiercely like the young Flatley.
What Stewart doesn’t have that the young Lynagh and Flatley certainly did is the benefit of slipping into the driver’s seat of a Rolls- Royce which is already purring.
Proven Wallabies overflowed from the passenger seats beside that duo whereas Stewart may just need a roll cage for some bumpy initial test drives as Cooper did.
There are rookies aplenty in this Reds team but also emerging stars like No. 8 Caleb Timu and Izack Rodda ready to take the fight to the Lions.
Stewart is a good learner and it’s to his great benefit that he’s had Cooper’s skilful vision and Jono Lance’s pragmatism as different influences over the past 14 months.
“Working with different styles of No. 10s has certainly helped my game improve since I made my debut,” Stewart said.
“Jono is a really composed player and good at talking to the boys which is mentoring that has helped make me feel ready to step up.”
Stewart plays an understated game and may only dart himself once or twice a game because he’s organising for others.
He has the kick of a mule in general play and he’ll also take on the goalkicking that the absent Lance and James Tuttle had been doing superbly at an 81 per cent success rate.
Stewart will wear his old Toowoomba Grammar socks in today’s 3.05pm match, a wonderful nod to the grassroots that all players will embrace in Rugby Family Round.
Prop Taniela Tupou will wear one sock acknowledging his Brothers club and a blueand- red striped sock to celebrate his start at Auckland’s Sacred Heart College.