Roe back to lead Reds
Reds captain John Roe will lead a powerful squad of 23 to Perth for their final Super pre-season trial, against the Western Force on Thursday.
Reds captain John Roe will lead a powerful squad of 23 to Perth for their final Super pre-season trial, against the Western Force on Thursday.
Roe rejoins the side after recovering from an off-season shoulder reconstruction.
Wing Clinton Schifcofske (calf) and scrumhalf Will Genia (broken hand) are also back from injury for the last outing before the Reds open their Super 14 campaign against the Highlanders at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, February 15.
Head coach Phil Mooney has largely stayed with the team that came within seconds of defeating Super 14 semi-final contenders, the Blues, in a trial match at Ballymore on Thursday night. The Reds led 19-18 after a spirited fightback but were pipped at the post by the Blues, 25-19.
“It's always nice to win, but being realistic, these are all still trial games, an opportunity to try a few things and get players match fit. If we can get our patterns right against the Force we'll be happy with that”, Mooney said.
“We passed up penalty goal opportunities against the Blues that could have changed the final score because we wanted to play footy, so we stuck to the strategy despite the opportunity to take some easy points from kicks.
“Our main focus all along has been on the Highlanders on February 15,” Mooney said.
Former Western Force wing Digby Ioane (knee) will miss the match in order to be fully fit for the opening round of the Super 14.
“We've given Digby one more week to get over his off-season knee surgery but he could have played had this been the Super 14. We know what Digby can do on the footy field, he's an exceptional player, so there was no need to rush him back for a trial,” said Mooney.
Reds: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Brando Va'aulu, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Chris Siale, 11 Clinton Schifcofske, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 John Roe (captain), 7 David Croft, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill, 4 Van Humphries, 3 Rodney Blake, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements (from): Sean Hardman, Ben Coutts, Dayna Edwards, Ed O'Donoghue, Leroy Houston, Will Genia, Quade Cooper, Andrew Walker.
Date: Thursday 7 February
Venue: Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 19.05 (10.05 GMT)