Reds hope to repel southern raider

 

By , 15 Mar 2010 Jim Morton is a Roar Pro

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Queensland must hope a record victory and their best Super rugby start in a decade changes the mind of Melbourne-bound Reds prop Laurie Weeks.

Rebels officials are confident the rising 23-year-old is one of six players the expansion Super 15 franchise will announce as their first Australian-based signings this week.

Tight-head Weeks, lock Adam Byrnes and reserve half Richard Kingi are three Queenslanders expected to leave Ballymore.

While the Reds could cope with Byrnes and Kingi jumping ship, Weeks has emerged as a potential Wallabies front-rower under former Test prop Ewen McKenzie.

Weeks refused media requests after Sunday night’s 50-10 thrashing of the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium which has the Reds one competition point outside the top four.

McKenzie has been frustrated the Rebels’ recruitment missions have been a distraction to his players but is also backing the Reds’ recruitment strategies.

“I’m quietly confident we’ve done the work necessary,” he said. “Does it mean we keep everyone? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see what happens.

“Now we’re in a bye week so it will all be very interesting and exciting for the Rebels but we’ll keep on with the business of playing and I’ve done a lot of work in terms of the future Reds but it’s just a distraction to talk about at the moment.”

But McKenzie knows a win of the magnitude of the seven-try stomping of the Force will ward off a raid like that suffered in 2005 by the Force.

“If you keep producing and playing in a team that’s showing great spirit and aptitude and more consistency that would be something as a a professional footballer you would be attracted to,” he said.

Two-try flanker Scott Higginbotham admitted the Rebels entry into the player market had been a distraction but declared his allegiances to the Reds.

“I love playing for Queensland and I want to keep playing for Queensland,” he said on Sunday night.

“I want to stay in Queensland.

“There’s a lot of pride and a lot of passion in the team this year so hopefully all the boys feel the same as I do.”

The best retention plans for Queensland revolve around the fact team leaders James Horwill and Will Genia are signed on for 2010, as well as strike weapon Digby Ioane, while playmaker Quade Cooper has indicated he wants to stay.

Genia lauded the ruthlessness of the young side against the Force by setting the tone early and putting on five tries by halftime.

“It’s an outstanding effort by the boys, I think more so because we showed a lot of character,” he said. “When we had the foot on the throat we kept going.”

© AAP 2012
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