No shortage of talent for Reds - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

No shortage of talent for Reds

Laine Clark 14/06/2011 03:25:11 PM Comments (0)

Even savvy Queensland rugby coach Ewen McKenzie has been surprised by the prompt response of Reds' hopefuls volunteering to ease their injury dramas.

McKenzie belies his old school look by being one of Australian sport's most prolific tweeters.

Yet McKenzie was taken aback by the amount of "proactive" players who quickly emailed their resume after the Reds' wing crisis worsened last round.

Rod Davies badly jarred his shoulder in their last-gasp win over Western Force in Perth, while Luke Morahan (hamstring) was expected to miss the rest of the season.

Digby Ioane (concussion) has already been ruled out of Saturday's crunch Chiefs game which the Reds must win to seal top spot on the Super Rugby table.

Davies is expected to recover for the Chiefs match but McKenzie has confirmed a "local" will be picked for the weekend New Zealand trip.

However, half the fun would be sifting through the applications.

"Through the power of technology, they have arrived pretty quickly," McKenzie said.

"Usually, the managers send me stuff but some of the players have been quite proactive and shot through their CVs and videos.

"We will find a solution by tomorrow - but if we need to find one, we will find it locally."

Davies' injection will be a huge relief for a Reds outfit without up to five outside backs due to injury or Australian Under-20 duty.

Queensland will also need to combat the Chiefs' Mils Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lelia Masaga - the All Blacks' back three.

Brisbane club stalwart Ant Sauer and former Test centre Steve Kefu are believed to be in the mix to sit on the bench in Hamilton.

"The injuries aren't worrying us. It's just a bit of a distraction, more so for myself because I have spent time working the phones - but it doesn't affect the flow of the team," McKenzie said.

"It's more about how we manage the week.

"We've got an opportunity against the Chiefs (to take top spot) and we have to makesure we get it right."

McKenzie said their last-minute victory over the Force - their first in Perth - showed the Reds were switched on for a table-topping tilt despite injuries.

"On the whole, we are a better team than we were last year," he said.

While Reds' captain James Horwill believed the Chiefs' backline was "scary", he backed McKenzie's call.

"The belief is there to get out of certain situations," he said.

"I haven't been in a game where we didn't believe we could win it or come back from a deficit.

"That is throughout the group.

"We believe if we play good footy, we can come back from any situation against any team."

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