Liam Wright says the additions of Phil Blake and Mick Heenan to the Queensland Reds coaching structure have allowed Brad Thorn to get back to doing what he does best. Coach.
The Reds captain, who signed a two-year extension deal with Queensland in the winter, which comes with a five-month option to play overseas should he miss Wallabies selection, also addressed the franchise’s struggles against their trans-Tasman rivals.
Wright, 25, also opened up on his personal struggle, which has seen him miss huge chunks of the past two years because of injuries and slowed his Test aspirations after a surprise call-up for the 2017 Spring Tour as a development player.
What he found was that he really loves the game.
“These past two years have really made me realise how much I enjoy playing footy,” Wright told The Roar.
“Even the training and things, there were not that many weeks this year that I was able to freely train with the team.
“I feel like I’ve taken some positives out of it like resilience, which will serve me well.
“I just want to be on the field to be able to show up for the fellas next to me in the Queensland jersey.”
Liam Wright has not played for the Wallabies since 2020 but says he is hopeful of mounting a late run by delivering in next year’s Super Rugby competition. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Well-spoken and measured, Wright is by no means your typical rugby player.
After finishing his undergraduate degree in 2018, Wright put his head down during the 2019 season in an effort to make the World Cup squad but ultimately felt his year was “unbalanced” and returned to studying a year later.
He is currently completing a Master of Business degree and hopes the management and leadership sections of the course will complement and improve his “captaincy and career goals” after rugby.
And when he’s not studying or putting his head in rucks, Wright enjoys being on the mower and in the garden.
“In our little break before the pre-season, I was just hopping on the mower and helping be one of the volunteers looking after the Easts fields,” he said.
“It’s just volunteers who did it at Easts and I live only about a kilometre away from the club. I was doing some running down there and saw the guys who did it and said, ‘I’m literally doing nothing for the next two weeks if you need a hand’ and they ended up yelling out.
“It gave the guy who usually does it two weeks off and they appreciated it. But, like I said, I love mowing a lawn. Just put the headphones on and look after the grounds there.”
Just like the Reds, Wright has a lot of unfinished business to attend to in 2023, which extends beyond the state of the local grounds.
The Reds might have had the measure of their Australian rivals over the past two years, but in the matches that count, particularly from a national perspective, they haven’t cut the mustard.
Liam Wright has missed huge chunks of the past two Super Rugby seasons. Photo: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images
While injuries have stung, they have claimed just one victory against New Zealand opposition over the past two years. If there is a reason why a number of the Reds’ players have been looked past for the Wallabies in recent years, that is one.
Wright, who has missed crucial game time, particularly in the build-up to the trans-Tasman crossover, doesn’t dance around that factor.
“I think probably where we fell short was just getting bored of doing the stuff that wins games of footy,” the experienced leader, who has captained the Reds 27 times from his 58 matches, said.
“You saw against the Hurricanes, we were up 17-0 after 30 minutes and then I think we started getting loose with our play a bit.
“That probably comes down to more composure and smarts in the key points, and not getting bored of doing the things that win you games like holding the 50/50 ball and going into the next phase.”
He also believes the fully-fledged competition will ensure they don’t become one-dimensional in how they approach games of footy.
“I also think we’re looking forward to the structure of the competition this year,” he said.
“It is a different style playing the New Zealand teams to the Aussies. We moulded our play in the first eight weeks of that comp to what wins the game against the Aussie guys, which is about discipline and taking the three and is more set-piece based, which was working for us.
“Then we had to quite drastically change our game plan to the counter-attacking style and less errors, which is probably more known to the Kiwi teams and we just took way too long to do that.”
Liam Wright believes Reds coach Brad Thorn will excel with more experience around him. Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
The inability to adjust their game-plan is a fascinating revelation, which reflects the shortcomings of the Reds in recent years.
But Wright believes the additions of Blake, the former rugby league star turned Wallabies assistant, as well as local talent Heenan, to the Reds’ coaching structure is already paying dividends.
“I think having more voices around him, and fresh voices, takes a bit of the strain off him (Thorn),” Wright said.
“He does a lot of leading from the front and taking on a big load, especially when we haven’t been performing as well as we’d like. Brad’s great at taking the heat off us and throwing himself in the firing line.
“I think having the fresh voices around him, allowing them to speak up more, and I think there’s been good challenging as well in the coaching so far in that they’re pushing each other to be better all the time. As players, it’s great to see that happening.
“And he can probably go back a bit more, with more experience around him, to what his best coaching style is.”
It begs the question, what is Thorn’s best coaching style? After all, Thorn’s man-management and his technical nous has come under huge scrutiny in recent years.
“I think Brad’s very good at the mental side of it,” Wright said.
“He’s been in these positions himself. I thought he, I don’t want to say singlehandedly because it’s a big team effort, but the way he rallied us for the quarter-final (against the Crusaders) and even that last match in Christchurch was very much around mind-set.
“It wasn’t too different in terms of how we’re going to play the game, but rather how you look at it, how you prepare, all that little stuff that he did as a player; I think that’s when he’s at his best and I think he knows that too.
“Almost being able to pull back from a few different things and hand over to Heeno, to Blakey, to Jimmy (McKay) allows him to focus more on that and more on that connection stuff with the players, who respect him a great deal for the amount of care he shows for Queensland.”
It won’t be easy for the Reds.
Taniela Tupou’s Achilles injury suffered against Ireland in November is a massive blow for the franchise. The departure of Feao Fotuaika overseas represents a double blow.
But if the Reds can challenge the top six, it can only spell good news for those on the fringes like Wright, Harry Wilson and Seru Uru.
numpty
Roar Rookie
One of my issues with thorn, or potentially the reds board, is that they have so heavily leaned on the Qld pipeline they aren't bringing in ANY external recruits. Doing so has meant they haven't reliably replaced alot of the talent lost, particularly in the tight five. I like them bringing young guys through but they need a few old heads to steer them around. There is too much weight on joc and Tupou to do it themselves. They needed to recruit locks when Hockings and rodda left, and lhp and hookers when bpa, slipper and the smith twins left. Someone like sio would be invaluable to the team this year, especially so with tupous injury. I don't think the tight five will cut it.
savant
Roar Rookie
I think Thorn would make a good case study on the difficulties of stepping up to head coach without much experience managing staff and other coaches, the politics, and keeping control of the direction and morale with multiple inputs. I feel he has lost his way a little bit in engaging with all this stuff. I really liked his approach when he took his under 19 cohort into the NRC with Qld Country. He had a clear game plan which worked as two grand finals and a championship showed. He had a hard working forward pack that built a lot of rucks and cleaned well, a set piece that focused on securing their own ball, a five eight who always kicked out of their own half, and quickly distributed to the strike players when in the opposition half. All built on solid defence. That first final was won away in Canberra against what is now the nucleus of the Wallabies. I also liked his approach when he took this same cohort into the Reds. He was intent on building from the ground up, stressing defence before attack and securing possession. They were an incredibly young side as the first couple of years results showed. Then the hard work paid off with 2 years of Australian conference dominance. Or you could argue that honors were shared with the Brumbies. At the same time I felt he started to lose control over his direction or change his mind about it. He lost confidence in his five eight strategy and allowed McKay to promote runners rather than kicker/distributors into that role. I think JOCs brilliance has masked the ineffectiveness of this strategy over the one that Thorn had preferred earlier. Which was not dissimilar to Connollys approach and how great Qld teams of the past under McClean and Lynagh had played. The forwards have remained competitive but I think the absence of Scott Young and Wrights cleaning has disrupted their ruck building game. I think he should have replaced himself as lineout coach long ago. And depth has been a problem too. This season will be fascinating. Clearly the board have moved to bolster the people around him. I think if JOC is not fit and the tight five don’t come on it could be a long season.
numpty
Roar Rookie
I think this is pretty much spot on. Coleman looks the goods but I will add the disclaimer that he has now recruited in alot of external talent rather then build from the ground up. Nothing wrong with that but it's not a luxury Penney had, and not how thorn did it. So Coleman should have some expectations on him this year even though it's only his second year (and I think he will do well for the record). I just don't understand why so many are quick to the jugular on thorn even though he is not doing any worse then most other coaches and has done what alot of people have called for for a long time (create a pipeline, think long term, build that qlder mentality etc).
numpty
Roar Rookie
That ranking is based off your previous comment. But larkham and McKellar for instance started with better squads and a team already in the top 8. Whose the better coach? One who takes a team from the bottom to fourth, or a coach who takes a team from number 1 or 2 to third? This is why McKenzie, cheika and potentially Coleman are impressive.
Ace
Guest
No the Tahs haven't lacked ball carriers, they have had Gamble Hanigan Holloway Harris Hooper Swinton and Bell..
Temujin
Guest
Apart from Nawaqanitawase he was the Wallabies’ most consistent outside back this season. Once a player has a reputation (deserving or not) as ‘overrated’ it can become virtually impossible to shake. Both Petaia and Nawaqanitawase should be starting Wallabies if they can just maintain their form from the spring tour.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Coleman took the Tahs from basket case to finals in a year. The year before was the odd year out for the Tahs tho not what Coleman did. He may end up to be a great coach but taking a team that lost every game the year before and getting into an 8 from 12 finals doesnt show much yet. He looks like he has some promise tho and the Tahs have a good squad this year.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
I do love an optimist Savant. :laughing: :laughing:
Jimbo81
Roar Rookie
The Reds will carve the Brumbies (again) and wait for the excuses…
PeterK
Roar Guru
No he isn’t. If we look at super rugby with NZ / SA opponents where has BT finished? 13th & 14th with SA, NZ and Arg in the comp. In 2021 and 2022 with NZ in the comp he finished 7th and 7th. So Mckenzie, Cheika, J White, Stephen Larkham, Dan McKellar all had better records in true super rugby.
savant
Roar Rookie
Coleman took the Tahs from basket case to finals in a year. The Brumbies were one biased NZ decision away from playing in the final. I think McKellar has done better than Larkham, developed players better, improved game style and results. BT has done a lot of things wonderfully well. Most of the things appear cultural to me. The way players prepare and train and play for each other. He is focusing strongly on being a Queenslander, being tribal, and recruiting from the local club comp. This last thing might hurt this season as his tight forwards look a shade short of their competition to me. He brought a cohort of talented players though from the under 19s to super rugby standard. As you say the team appears to have plateaued. IMHO he looks like a coach good at the basics but has struggled to take the next step when more sophistication was needed. This is not vitriol from me, just honest opinion. I hope he proves me wrong next season.
savant
Roar Rookie
Flook is a very good player, very smart. I’d like to agree about the tight 5 being ok. But without Tupou I think they will struggle. I hope I’m wrong.
savant
Roar Rookie
Yes. The Waratahs. 2024 or 2025.
Wheelbarrow
Roar Rookie
Like what? He has all the assistance in the world- talks tough about discipline and mental edge and they are the 2 worse things the reds have.. 2-3 yellow cards each game and can’t close out a game. The recruitment taken ID is also poor. Front row and 2nd rows all weak.
Wheelbarrow
Roar Rookie
Yeap. Force and rebels
Ray
Roar Rookie
I think he still had his hand up even after Hooper returned to the team and Gamble had to play out of position at 6. I think he got MoM awards playing alongside Hooper?
numpty
Roar Rookie
There are plenty of players with potential that don't go on. I don't think anyone thinks that will be the case for the most of the reds players. He has gotten 50 caps into a whole bunch of them. Thorn is far from a "great" coach but I find it hilarious that people try and criticise him for the things he has actually done well.
numpty
Roar Rookie
So thorn is the third best coach in the last 10 years. Not so bad considering he's just started out... I think the most important thing from a coach is to see if they have improved the team and left it in a better state then when they started. Thorn has done both these things. He also clearly has a long term vision in place by trying to get a reds feeder type system in place rather then just parachuting players in to try and win next week's game. This has at times been to the detriment of their success and I don't always think he has gone about it the perfect way, but I like that he has a focus on that.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Just as available as Issac Lucas from a Reds perspective Leroy. :unhappy:
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Yep agree with that TF. Reds desperately need a larger 10 selection. Its a pitty about TT but thats part of the sport. I see the Reds pack going ok. Particularly the back row and the backs have some talent and Im sure the new assistant from Uni can get them working better together. JOC doesnt enthuse me much as he is just so safe and hardly runs the ball. Im hoping Henry gets a good run and Flook also.