Stiles backs Baby Reds
GAMBLER coach Nick Stiles is boldly backing the “Baby Reds” to harness the aggro, passion and precision to end three years of interstate torment for Queensland tomorrow night.
No Reds coach has ever put so much faith in youth for the biggest night of the season with eight of his match squad yet to celebrate their 21st birthday.
With nearly every selection call from Stiles for this seasondefining clash against NSW he THE Northern Fury are seeing red after Football Queensland opted to give Brisbane Roar Youth the luxury of postponing their away game against Fury for being unable to field a “competitive” team.
The Fury will appeal the decision made by Football Queensland’s Brisbane- based powerbrokers to allow the Roar Youth to play the Fury at a later date, rather than have three competition points go straight to the Fury as a forfeit.
The Fury were scheduled to host the Roar Youth tomorrow has preferred unscarred, plosive youth to more soned campaigners fluctuating form.
The grunt of young lock Lukhan Tui, 20, will help drive the pack at Suncorp Stadium before an even taller replacement in 2.02m Izack Rodda, 20, finishes the job.
The telling bottom line is that Wallaby Kane Douglas, a lock of 31 Tests and 87 Super Rugby games, has been jettisoned for a duo with just 13 Super Rugby games between them.
Halfback James Tuttle, 20, exseawith night at the Townsville Sports Reserve, but the Fury will now play local team MA Olympic in a FFA Cup elimination game.
The Brisbane Roar’s involvement in this weekend’s A- League semi- finals, and the elevation of some Roar Youth players to next week’s AFC Champions League clash, resulted in the Roar requesting their Youth side have its clash against the Fury moved to a later date.
“It’s not that they can’t bring a side up here — they have the numbers — what the Roar have told us is that they has kept another Wallaby, Nick Frisby, in the reserves.
The one “oldies” call is the vote for bull- at- a- gate backrower Leroy Houston, 30, for his direct, abrasive style as a supersub rather than Adam Korczyk.
“Queensland rugby in its heyday was built around a pack that was absolutely abrasive and a smart No. 10 with exciting backs who could take really good opportunities,” Stiles said.
“It’s the brand of rugby we are trying to get to.
“With Leroy, there was no can’t field a ‘ competitive’ team,” Fury chairman Rabieh Krayem said.
“Just imagine the Gold Coast Titans being able to postpone one of their NRL games because they couldn’t field a ‘ competitive’ team.
“What’s the definition ‘ competitive’?
“There’s nothing in the criteria that says you can postpone a game because you don’t have a competitive team.
“Never in my life have I heard of this ... you can’t just change the rules like this.”
In an email obtained by the Townsville Bulletin, Football of sulking when he missed out earlier in the season, just his real hunger to earn this chance.
“He’s a physical guy for a game that is no ordinary game.”
Adding Houston, Rodda and Magnay finally suggests the bench can offer an extra turbo in the final 20 minutes rather than be the handbrake it has been.
The best advice for the rookie Reds is reprising the words of Queensland great John Eales to another young crop before the 2004 interstate Queensland outlined its reasons for postponing the Round 9 Queensland NPL game.
It says Football Queensland accepted the Roar Youth’s application to postpone tomorrow’s game because of player unavailability, and welcomed the opportunity of young Roar players to play in the club’s Champions League game in Thailand.
“Due to the minor impact on scheduling, Football Queensland is satisfied that a postponement better maintains the integrity of the competition rather than a forfeit being imposed,” Queensland victory: “Don’t stand back and watch.”
It would have been easy for Stiles to delay a captaincy baton change but he wants Samu Kerevi to learn in the cauldron and returning Wallaby skipper Stephen Moore is all for it. Moore only ever saw his role as Reds captain, for three games, as an emergency measure after James Slipper’s achilles tear.
“It was discussed ( with Stiles) and I was very keen for this to happen with Samu as the best way forward for the club,” Moore said. Football said in its statement.
That decision could have a massive bearing on the Fury’s season, with the Fury currently sitting seventh on a tightly congested Queensland NPL ladder.
Raising the Fury’s ire even further is the fact they did the hard yards for more than two years, and last season regularly fielded players aged 17 years and under to cover player unavailability.
Tomorrow’s FFA Cup Round 5 qualifier between the Fury and MA Olympic at the Sports Reserve kicks off at 7pm.