Queensland Reds 2025

[liquor box]

My hottest take of the season is we won't see much Werchon and he will move overseas when his current Reds deal is up.

Lots of ability but doesn't seem to have a great headspace under pressure and the feedback from both his clubs is very similar.

There is a fair bit of Nick Frisby about him on and off the field.

My hot take is if Werchon gets 20-25 minutes per game then there will be calls for him to start in the second half of the season. I would be happy for him to be starting to see whether he has what it takes at this level, from what I have seen he is good enough.

 

[SouthernX]

My hot take is if Werchon gets 20-25 minutes per game then there will be calls for him to start in the second half of the season. I would be happy for him to be starting to see whether he has what it takes at this level, from what I have seen he is good enough.

it’s really hard to see him starting in front of captain Tate McDermott.

I think he is a class above Kalani personally and he might be on par with Tate but it’s a no brainer to play the captain who has nicknames “Tattiefor80”

 

[Ras]

With the aforementioned young 10's I think it would be remiss of the reds to have the rookie 9 in Werchon inside them for long or crucial periods of the game. Maybe gets a start in one of the softer games and can pull the safety chute in Tate at half time depending on score.

With the changes in the finals and the "leveling" of the competition wins will be more important then the last few years.

 

[WoodysRFC]

There were plenty who thought JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor)'s experience was insufficient and that his strength was 12. Personally I'd prefer he was still here, but I doubt we will look back in 12 months and be thinking "well, what would have been if JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) had been backing up 10".

Creighton (Wiki) is listed with 34 Red caps to Lynagh's 22 - noting Lynagh is pretty much all focussed at 10, whereas Creighton is flyhalf, centre, wing, FB. Did he have any more experience than Tom at flyhalf? Also Lynagh's introduction into pro-rugby has been one of the most considered and progressive I have seen recently.

Reds have young 10s to be sure, and like I suspect all Aus Super clubs the depth of experience and ability is possibly "under development". All the same I am happy with how we are sitting as we line up the 2025 season.

I would be curious to know why Lynagh has a reputation for being injury prone?

 

[Strewthcobber]

I would be curious to know why Lynagh has a reputation for being injury prone?

I'm guessing it's the minor hamstring strain that seemed to take 6 months for him to get over last year

 

[Yoda]

I would be curious to know why Lynagh has a reputation for being injury prone?

Hamstring kept him out of quite a few games? Not a great injury for a young person.

 

[PhilClinton]

He's a relatively young guy, last year especially the QPR final would have done him a world of good for why hot headiness is costly.

Horwill was similar until roughly the same age and then he mellowed out.

Horwill is closer to the Pope than Werchon is to Horwill in terms of attitude and behaviour.

He’s closer to early years JOC (James O'Connor) than anyone else, as in has lots of ability but the attitude that comes with people around you telling you how good you are.

One of the major issues I’ve heard about Werchon is he is playing in the social media era. He’s very engrossed in the many positive and negative comments made about him and has been known to lash out in the messages directly at times. It then carries over into his every day persona and gameplay. Not sure how to combat those habits when you consider that age group is pretty much raised to be constantly ingesting media on their phones.

 

[TSR]

I guess the comparison with Horwill is that in his early years Horwill’s discipline was poor and he was easily baited. He gradually matured and got past it. (IMO he then went off the rails again for a short period before going OS).

Hopefully Werchon has good people around him in the coaching staff and senior player group to ground him a bit.

 

[TSR]

On that note, this is the first year since Thorn took over that I feel like the Reds squad isn’t a top heavy on youth.

I know it’s only 1 yrs difference but guys like McReight and Wilson now regular Wallabies. Nonggorr, Nasser, Flook and Thomas as all experienced super rugby players and players like Salakai-Loto, Anderson, Gibbon & Daugunu coming back in as experienced older heads.

Still plenty of youth in the squad but they’ll be surrounded by experienced heads.

 

[dru]

Not sure how to combat those habits

OK, I'm being specific in a way that sort of ignores context, but habits as in social media habits being discussed here on social media?

 

[Major Tom]

Horwill is closer to the Pope than Werchon is to Horwill in terms of attitude and behaviour.

He’s closer to early years JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) than anyone else, as in has lots of ability but the attitude that comes with people around you telling you how good you are.

One of the major issues I’ve heard about Werchon is he is playing in the social media era. He’s very engrossed in the many positive and negative comments made about him and has been known to lash out in the messages directly at times. It then carries over into his every day persona and gameplay. Not sure how to combat those habits when you consider that age group is pretty much raised to be constantly ingesting media on their phones.

He is a halfback remember. Angry at life in general really.

 

[LevitatingSocks]

OK, I'm being specific in a way that sort of ignores context, but habits as in social media habits being discussed here on social media?

There's degrees to it. This forum is mostly anonymous and full of older reasonable people (some allowances for Blues fans).

Instagram or Tiktok are seem by a lot of people as extensions of themselves so criticism there is taken quite personally.

 

[Adam84]

No stream for Reds vs Bristol sadly

 

[TSR]

Disappointing- but hopefully they’ll at least put up a good highlights package. Not much, but better than nothing.

With the game on the 1st local time do we assume the team will get named Thursday morning?

 

[Ignoto]

I know the RFU are in a similar state to us, but could Bristol seriously not pay a film student in pints and pies to have a single camera and stream on Facebook?