Believe it or not, Queensland Reds coach Richard Graham can see a tiny ray of light piercing through the end of the tunnel.
It might not feel that way after James O’Connor’s name was added to the Reds’ ever-growing injury list, further compounding Queensland’s dreadful start to their Super Rugby campaign.
But Graham has circled March 27 – when the Reds host the Lions at Suncorp Stadium – as the day when their season will finally start taking shape.
That is the anticipated return date of a number of incapacitated Reds stars, including O’Connor, strike weapon Samu Kerevi, and Quade Cooper, the man whose fractured collarbone triggered Queensland’s downward spiral.
“It’s unfortunate, there’s no doubt about it,” Graham said of his side’s injury crisis.
“We made a lot of changes at the end of last season, we changed the way we wanted to play the game and at this point we haven’t been able to deliver a great deal of that due to the injuries.
“Certainly next week and leading into round seven we’ll have a fair contingent back.”
O’Connor has succumbed to a leg injury sustained against the NSW Waratahs last week, ruling him out of Saturday’s encounter with the Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium.
He copped a cork to his soleus muscle at the start of the game and finished with a strain, and has been unable to join his teammates on the training paddock at all this week.
The injury is unrelated to the knee issue he brought with him from French side Toulon.
The former Wallaby joins Cooper, Kerevi, Greg Holmes, Ed O’Donoghue, Rob Simmons, Beau Robinson, Ed Quirk, Hendrik Tui, Lachie Turner and Jamie-Jerry Taulagi on the sidelines with injury, while Karmichael Hunt is suspended from playing until April 3.
Most of those names should be right to return to face the Lions, a match which is preceded by the round six bye for the Reds.
Graham said it made sense to take a conservative approach with their prized off-season recruit O’Connor, who will pass the kicking duties onto makeshift flyhalf Nick Frisby in the interim.
“We know if we can get ourselves through this game on Saturday night with a good result and a good performance, going into the next batch of games we’ll be in a pretty good place,” Graham said.
But veteran lock James Horwill has warned it will take more than just some additional cavalry to turn around Queensland’s flagging fortunes.
“There is no magic fix, no magic pill – if there was, there’d be a lot of teams going really well,” said Horwill, who has overcome back spasms and has been named to face the Brumbies.
“There’s no point sugarcoating anything – we’ve got to be better than what we have been.
“We’ve got to roll the sleeves up, make no excuses, get out there and get stuck in.”
Queensland Reds: Ben Tapuai, Chris Kuridrani, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Anthony Fainga’a, Campbell Magnay, Nick Frisby, Will Genia, Jake Schatz, Liam Gill, Adam Thomson, James Horwill, Marco Kotze, Sam Talakai, Saia Fainga’a, James Slipper (capt). Res: James Hanson, Ben Daley, Sef Faagase, Dave McDuling, Curtis Browning, Scott Gale, Sam Johnson, Tom Banks.
