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Jim Tucker
The Courier-Mail
July 06, 2014 11:00PM
IF the aim of this Super Rugby season was to raze nearly all the pillars of the Reds success in recent seasons, it’s mission accomplished in Queensland.
Aggressive defence built on big attitude ... gone.
Consistency ... non-existent.
Star quality tries and moments ... few and far between.
Wasteful kicking ... plenty.
Smart, calm heads for close victories at the death ... not any more and certainly not in Perth last Saturday night.
Don’t accept assessments that the Reds have been unlucky or just a few per cent off the mark.
The butchered result in Perth against the Western Force encapsulated so many of the ills of this season.
There was passive defence, Mike Harris and Ben Lucas passing balls into touch, errors at the breakdown and composure evaporating when the game was there to be won at 20-all.
The Reds will finish 12th or 13th this season and deservedly so. Three of their five wins have been over the Stormers, Cheetahs and Rebels, three of the teams in the bottom five with them.
About the only area of improvement has been the set piece work. The proof has been four tries from strong maulling drives off lineouts in the past two games plus that big tighthead pushover try against the ACT Brumbies.
The Reds have used 34 players this season. Only new outside centre Samu Kerevi has exceeded expectations and lock James Horwill has been one of the very few consistent rocks for 15 games.
Once-a-year lightning strike Aidan Toua was gold for a month and gone. Too many teammates have been diamonds one night and rocks at key times in other games.
There is no way the Reds can beat the NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
It is up to the Reds to dig deep and find something special to rip up that script or the squad will be starting from ground zero next year. For all their crash landings, the spirit within the camp has remained strong, which is a big plus.
The upside is that powerful two-year plans turned the Brumbies into finalists last year and the NSW Waratahs into minor premiers this year.
That is if you have the right plan. New Reds recruit James O’Connor is carrying a big burden right now for a player of just 88kg until some big, ugly sidekicks are unveiled.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/su...-1226979624833