Theory behind Reds fall from grace
Leading coach Dan McKellar questioned Queensland Reds conditioning after the wheels fell off in a 52-24 hammering from the Brumbies. Leicester-bound McKellar- the former Brumbies coach and Wallabies assistant- watched his former team run wild in the wet in the second half after just four points separated the sides at the break. It was the first Brumbies win at a sodden Suncorp Stadium since 2015 and meant Stephen Larkham’s 6-1 side took third place on the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific ladder behind Chiefs and Hurricanes.
The Reds are eighth with a miserable 2-5 record.
“There looks to be an issue with their conditioning and ability to stick in games for 80 minutes,” McKellar, a former Queensland prop, said on Stan Sport.
“To concede 31-7 in the second half just isn’t good enough.”
Gutted
Reds coach Brad Thorn agreed. “It’s in front of our people, gutted with how that ended up,” Thorn told Stan Sport’s Michael Atkinson.
“It just really hurts... I’m just, I’m gutted around this.”
Thorn is in the final year of his contract with the Reds and assistant coach Mick Heenan has been tipped to take the reins in 2024. Atkinson asked Thorn how he planned to change the script. “The sun rises tomorrow and you’ve got to work hard and appreciate, I guess, the job you’re doing,” Thorn replied.
“Review, critique, you know, and there’ll be some tough critique from this game and go again. That’s just life and that’s footy. “You’re head coach so it hurts because it’s on me. I don’t like letting people down in Queensland and that’s... it’s a tough score.
“I’m gutted, I’m sure the players are as well and you just have to wear it.”
Thorn’s mood wasn’t helped by lock Angus Blyth’s red card for a horror hit on Brumbies winger Corey Toole.
It was the Brumbies’ 10th win in 11 matches against fellow Australian
sides.
The Reds led 14-7 after in-form winger Jordan Petaia’s storming run and re-gathered grubber earned a penalty and led to Brumbies fullback Tom Wright being yellow carded.
But it was the visitors who scored next, with Dane Zander giving away another penalty in the ruck and Lachlan Lonergan scoring from a textbook rolling maul after the halftime siren.
In the second half, it was all Brumbies with a five try performance among their seven on the night.
“We all know what I’m thinking but I’m not going to berate my team right now,” Reds co-captain Tate McDermott said.
“It’s obviously disappointing but we’ve got to keep on the grind. That first half, I’m really proud of that effort but like I said in the sheds, we’ve got to back that up if we want to, you know, be respected, I guess. And we didn’t do that.”
McDermott scored a brilliant solo try and McKellar labelled him the best player on the field in the first half.
But the halfback denied his Wallabies snubbing had anything to do with his sharp performance.
“Na, mate, like I’ve always said, I’ll let my rugby do the talking. So in terms of the message,
“I just wanted to play well, put in a good performance. So, yeah, bit of a mixed bag but we’ll see how we go.”