Support for besieged Queensland coach Richard Graham has not waned at the Reds, but captain James Slipper reckons there will not be much love for ACT mentor Stephen Larkham.
Graham is feeling the heat before Saturday night’s Super Rugby clash with the Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium after their season hit a new low – a 23-5 loss to NSW.
Slipper said the players still backed Graham despite sitting at 13th with just four tries from their four games to date.
“We support Richard. A lot of things haven’t gone our way, not just injuries,” he said of a Reds team that has also endured the Karmichael Hunt cocaine scandal.
“But as players we put our hands up.”
However, Larkham won’t be winning any popularity contests in the Reds camp after the ACT coach’s scathing round one assessment, even though Slipper admits it “struck a chord”.
Larkham said the Reds were “not up to Super Rugby standard” after the Brumbies thrashed them 47-3 in the first round in Canberra.
Asked if it was a fair comment from Larkham, Slipper said: “We were definitely off the pace in round one … but I thought the effort was there (on Saturday night).
“We started playing the rugby we wanted in the last 10 minutes – that’s a cue for us to back ourselves from the first whistle (on Saturday night).”
Slipper said it was unfair to judge Graham’s performance this season with an injury-ravaged squad.
Queensland are not expected to have their full squad together until the March 27 clash with the Lions after the round six bye.
Quade Cooper (100 caps), Greg Holmes (119), James Horwill (103), Rob Simmons (81), Beau Robinson (74), Ed O’Donoghue (47) and Ed Quirk (39) should be back then.
Hunt’s six-game ban ends the next week.
“Every coach’s role comes under pressure when a team goes bad,” Slipper said.
“(But) we haven’t gone into one game yet with a full-strength team.
“We have about 600 Queensland caps currently on the sidelines.
“But in saying that we have a strong belief in the players in our squad.
“It’s about players taking responsibility, and staff.
“We have to work hard and try and grind our way out of it.”
