2011 Super Rugby Queensland Reds Player of the Year

We are the champions — my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting — till the end
We are the champions — we are the champions
No time for losers, ’cause we are the champions
Of the world SANZAR provinces

What is there to say about the Reds’ year that hasn’t been said already? Maybe a bit. Let’s get straight into it and look at the men who wore that red guernsey week in and week out.

 Round 1 v. Force

3 – James Horwill
2 – Will Genia
1 – Saia Faingaa

QUEENSLAND REDS 21 (Saia Faingaa, James Hanson tries, Quade Cooper 3 pens, con) bt WESTERN FORCE 20 (James O’Connor try, James O’Connor 5 pens)

Round 2 v. Waratahs

3 – Digby Ioane
2 – Will Genia
1 – Beau Robinson

NSW WARATAHS 30 (David Dennis, Drew Mitchell, Benn Robinson, Lachlan Turner tries Kurtley Beale 2 cons Berrick Barnes 2 pens) bt QUEENSLAND REDS 6 (Quade Cooper 2 pens)

Round 3 v. Brumbies

3 – Quade Cooper
2 – Will Genia
1 – Scott Higginbotham

QUEENSLAND REDS 31 (Scott Higginbotham try, Quade Cooper con, 7 pens, dg) def BRUMBIES 25 (Ben Alexander, Pat McCabe, Stephen Moore, Ita Vaea tries, Matt Giteau con, pen)

Round 5 v. Rebels

3 – Beau Robinson
2 – Leroy Houston
1 – Will Genia

QUEENSLAND REDS 53 (Michael Harris 2, Ben Daley, Anthony Faingaa, Scott Higginbotham, Luke Morahan, Adam Wallace-Harrison tries Quade Cooper 5, Harris cons Cooper 2 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 3 (Danny Cipriani pen)

Round 6 v. Cheetahs

3 – Beau Robinson
2 – Will Genia
1 – James Slipper 

QUEENSLAND REDS 41 (Rod Davies 2, Will Genia 2, Saia Faingaa, Digby Ioane tries Quade Cooper 3, Michael Harris cons Cooper pen) bt CHEETAHS 8 (Wilhelm Steenkamp try Sias Ebersohn pen)

Round 7 v. Lions

3 – Quade Cooper
2 – Digby Ioane
1 – Will Genia

QUEENSLAND REDS 30 (Quade Cooper, Digby Ioane, Luke Morahan tries Michael Harris 3 cons 3 pens) bt LIONS 25 (Michael Killian, Jaco Taute tries Andre Pretorius 4, Rory Kockott pens Pretorius drop goal)

Round 8 v. Stormers

3 – Will Genia
2 – James Slipper
1 – Beau Robinson

QUEENSLAND REDS 19 (Michael Harris try Quade Cooper con 4 pens drop goal) bt STORMERS 6 (Peter Grant 2 pens)

Round 9 v. Bulls

3 – Quade Cooper
2 – James Slipper
1 – Ant Faingaa

QUEENSLAND REDS 39 (Luke Morahan 2, Quade Cooper, James Horwill, Digby Ioane, Radike Samo tries Cooper 3 cons drop goal) bt BULLS 30 (Bjorn Basson 2, Danie Rossouw tries Morne Steyn 3 cons 3 pens)

Round 10 v. Waratahs

3 – James Horwill
2 – Will Genia
1 – Beau Robinson

QUEENSLAND REDS 19 (Quade Cooper try con 3 pens drop goal) bt NSW WARATAHS 15 (Kurtley Beale 5 pens)

Round 11 v. Hurricanes

3 – Beau Robinson
2 – James Horwill
1 – Luke Morahan

HURRICANES 28 (Aaron Cruden, Faifili Levave, Andre Taylor, Neemia Tialata tries Cruden con 2 pens) bt QUEENSLAND REDS 26 (Luke Morahan 2, Scott Higginbotham tries Quade Cooper con 3 pens)

Round 12 v. Rebels

3 – Will Genia
2 – James Horwill
1 – Beau Robinson

QUEENSLAND REDS 33 (Scott Higginbotham, Digby Ioane, Radike Samo, Dom Shipperley tries Quade Cooper 2 cons 3 pens) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 18 (Peter Betham, James Hilgendorf, Afusipa Taumoepeau tries Julian Huxley pen)

Round 13 v. Blues

3 – Digby Ioane
2 – Scott Higginbotham
1 – Beau Robinson

QUEENSLAND REDS 37 (Quade Cooper, Saia Faingaa, James Hanson, Scott Higginbotham tries Cooper 4 cons 3 pens) bt BLUES 31 (Chris Lowrey, Alby Mathewson, Lachie Munro, Rene Ranger tries Luke McAlister 4 cons pen)

Round 15 v. Crusaders

3 – Radike Samo
2 – Quade Cooper
1 – Will Genia

QUEENSLAND REDS 17 (Will Genia, Ben Tapuai tries Quade Cooper 2 cons pen) bt CRUSADERS 16 (Brent Ward try Daniel Carter con 3 pens)

Round 16 v. Brumbies

3 – Ant Faingaa
2 – Digby Ioane
1 – Radike Samo

BRUMBIES 22 (Stephen Moore try Matt Giteau con 5 pens) bt QUEENSLAND REDS 14 (Ben Lucas try Quade Cooper 3 pens)

Round 17 v. Force

3 – Quade Cooper
2 – James Horwill
1 – James Slipper

QUEENSLAND REDS 24 (Quade Cooper, Scott Higginbotham, Dom Shipperley tries Cooper 3 cons pen) bt WESTERN FORCE 21 (Rory Sidey 2, David Pocock tries James O’Connor 2 pens)

Round 18 v. Chiefs

3 – Liam Gill
2 – Will Genia
1 – Quade Cooper

QUEENSLAND REDS 19 (Liam Gill try Quade Cooper con 4 pens) bt CHIEFS 11 (Fritz Lee try Stephen Donald 2 pens)

Semi-Final v. Blues

3 – Quade Cooper
2 – Rodney Davies
1 – James Horwill

QUEENSLAND REDS 30 (Rod Davies 3, Ben Tapuai tries Quade Cooper 2 cons pen drop goal) bt BLUES 13 (Chris Lowrey try Stephen Brett con Luke McAlister 2 pens)

Final v. Crusaders

3 – James Horwill
2 – Ben Tapuai
1 – Will Genia

QUEENSLAND REDS 18 (Will Genia, Digby Ioane tries Quade Cooper con 2 pens) bt CRUSADERS 13 (Daniel Carter try con 2 pens)

It was a tightly run race for the Reds Player of The Season, with the key names of Ioane, Horwill, Genia and Cooper, together with Beau Robinson, all in contention for the big award. In the end it was Will Genia who took out the prize from his good buddy Quade. Interesting to note that it was a win based on consistency: he nabbed only the two ‘Man of the Match Awards’, but scored points in two-thirds of all games. Remarkable. The final ladder was:

A nice mix of players there, and isn’t it good to see a prop in James Slipper relatively high up the ladder? It’s been said time and time again, but what a story the Beau Robinson one is, coming to Queensland on no contract… just look at the points to see the impact he had on this side. So many stories — so tell us yours. Was Will the right man for the award? Any surprises or disappointments? And overall, who would be your Australian Super Rugby Player of the Year?