He cemented his status with a brilliant debut season but there was something missing from Harry Wilson’s highlight reel.
For all his dominance in the No.8 for the Queensland Reds and then the Wallabies, the Rugby Australia rookie of the year had no trophy to show for it.
The 21-year-old is keen to remedy that in 2021, adamant valuable lessons were learnt during the Reds’ Super Rugby AU grand-final loss to the Brumbies and the Wallabies’ mixed Tri-Nations campaign.
“The No.1 goal this year is to get some silverware for the Reds,” Wilson said at the unveiling of national air charter operator Alliance Airlines as a new sponsor on Wednesday.
“Last year I achieved a fair few personal goals, but didn’t end up with any trophies.
“And I’m excited because I know we have a team that can do it.”
Coach Brad Thorn boasts arguably the most exciting squad in Australia this season for a domestic competition that will be broadcast live on free-to-air television for the first time on Nine, as well as through streaming service Stan.
Wilson, Fraser McReight, Tate McDermott, Filipo Daugunu, Hunter Paisami, Jordan Petaia, James O’Connor, Taniela Tupou, Brandon Paenga Amosa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Liam Wright were all part of Dave Rennie’s Wallabies squad last season.
Melbourne Storm premiership winner Suliasi Vunivalu has switched codes too and already spent time in camp with the Wallabies before officially beginning at the Reds this week.
“Everyone’s another year older and we learnt a lot from last year’s grand final,” Wilson said.
“That will help, as will new recruits like Suli – he’ll add a lot to the team.
“He’s one of the tallest and one of the quickest in the squad, so to have him on the wing will be very exciting.”
Comrade Bear
Roar Rookie
HJH for Captain...
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Fair enough
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Oh stop
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I have no reason to favour him over other Australian players and I see the potential. He has shown poor judgement with options trying to make things happen when the Argie defence stifled us but he made some NZ defenders miss at times and seems to defend well. He’s young and talented; no way a dud
Choppies
Roar Rookie
wow. you can't seriously think JP isn't ready for SR
Beedy Eyes
Guest
Hooper is the only DUD in Green and Gold.
Paddy
Guest
No hyperbole at all . He was diobolical. Until he puts his body on the line he wont go very far.He refuses to tackle. We agree to disagree.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I looked through the squad a bit closer and I am starting to disagree. They can put out a strong XV. But with the exception of 16 (Mafi), 20 (ASY) and 22 (Stewart) they have no quality depth even to the bench in a number of positions. They had a pretty average line out in 2020 and with LSL gone the first 2 rounds it's likely going to start off even worse. After refreshing the squad at the end of 2017, coming into 2021 they still have a squad with a lot of inexperience. Some is surely solely down to Covid (e.g Rodda) but the loss of Speight, Naivalu, the Smith brothers, etc. was always on the cards and has now 4 years into a rebuild left themselves with probably only the Tahs as a less experienced side. I have genuine concerns over the Rebels squad (though thankfully almost all their departures didn't play SR AU anyway so they will roll out close to the same side that played most of 2020) but even they will have some decent quality players with experience miss the 23 in some positions (back row and backline).
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Haha. You only need to look at his performances in green and gold. Some people, poor judges of rugby players only look at small moments, not the overall picture. That always make excuses for the player when he stuffs up yet hold him as a champion when he just does his JOB.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I thought BPA was horrible at times for the Wallabies personally. I certainly acknowledge he had some quite good moments, but he had some poor ones too.
scubasteve
Guest
Fraser left Reds? last i checked he was a decent player.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Piggies: 1. Bell / Faulkner / Tatola 2. Horton / Porecki / Cotton / Abel 3. Johnson-Holmes / Tauakipulu / Talakai (HJH and Tet able to play both sides) 4. Whetton / Wykes 5. Caird / Douglas / Williams 6. Swinton / Sinclair 7. Tizzano / Gamble 8. Dempsey / Harris A lot hanging on those locks perform and a bit of a question on how the front row wind up - would be keen to see HJH switch back and Tauakipulu and Talakai look to cement the TH positions. If the Kiwi locks and Wykes can give us the ruck clean out we've been missing then there is quite a bit of running power across the rest of the pack. Tizzano will bring an edge to the breakdown as well.
Take the Points
Roar Rookie
Wright should absolutely play fullback, he was a playmaker in league and has some absolute pace to burn
Tree Son
Roar Rookie
It’s hard not to love a pacey winger like him that also loves to make a big hit here and there but he’s made a few bad choices that somewhat balance out his upside. Hoping his savvy catches up to his skill
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Croftiw was an animal who would fight every other dog in the yard to get the bone. Wilson within a couple of years has more upside in his game that that Croftie bloke. He was a joy to watch.
Gavin
Guest
Agreed. Haven’t seen anything from Wilson to get excited about. Another good player but nothing outstanding.
Armchair Halfback
Roar Rookie
Whetton could end up as VC? At 28 he's one of the oldest (maybe only Faulkner older)
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Daugumu deserved his first test selection and on the back of first game, the second. He was poor, just poor. He really needs to lift (consistently).
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
He played two poor games at the end of the last season but only somebody with a preconceived bias would describe him as a dud
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Only one preferably.