Hamish Muller (Brothers) and Ollie Harris (Norths) are just two of the StoreLocal Hospital Cup products gaining benefits from stepping up to train with the Queensland Reds.
When your rugby dreams are to play for the Reds, there’s nothing quite like getting a taste as a training partner to fill in gaps when the squad drills 15-on-15 at Ballymore.
It’s a two-way street. Reds Head Coach Les Kiss gets benefit from a full contingent and encouraging some of the best from club rugby.
The players get a burst of inspiration to keep pushing and take back what they’ve learnt to their clubs.
Loosehead prop Harris, 23 and 113kg of promise, is the perfect example.
“You realise pretty quickly how much there is still to learn and improve to be a top player,” Harris said after a session at Ballymore this week with the Reds team heading to Canberra to face the ACT Brumbies.
“It’s the focus on the little details that is one of the major differences. It’s not ‘clean out that ruck’ but all the detail and understanding to doing it the best way.
“It’s been an unreal experience over the past few weeks.
“As a prop, Sef Fa’agase has been really helpful with his advice on technique.
“It’s all stuff you can take back to your club. I know, for me, it has added to my confidence playing at Norths.”
Backrower Muller has been lucky enough to take the next step as one of the club high achievers brought into the Reds squad which toured Japan late last year.
He made his Queensland debut off the bench against the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights in Kumagaya.
“It was a special feeling that I’ve always worked towards. It was definitely incentive. It kind of opened my eyes that I can get to that next level if I put in the work,” Muller said.
He’s returned to Brothers this season with an extra 8kg on his frame and continues to learn when called in to workout with the Reds at training.
“It’s full on, definitely. You are always learning something in team meetings, in unit meetings or on the field,” Muller said.
“For me, it’s all the technical stuff around lineouts with foot patterning when jumping or your lifts. At breakdowns, it’s arriving early and doing the right thing.
“The reps you do and what you pick up definitely adds to your confidence when you go back to your club.”
Players like Will Cartwright and Buildcorp Reds Academy quartet Avery Thomson, Tom Robinson, Charlie Brosnan and Xavier Rubens also harness this learning environment.
It’s not just players. Kiss and his assistant coaches regularly welcome club and schools coaches plus strength and conditioning types to Ballymore to tap into how the Reds are doing things.
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Steve Meehan was one of the interested coaching faces on the sidelines at Reds training this week.
The experienced former GPS coach made his name as an assistant coach with Stade Francais, Bath and Toulon in the upper echelon of European rugby.
He flies out of Brisbane this weekend to crank up his latest role as Canada’s new Head Coach at a camp in Edmonton. Qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia is a non-negotiable.
Meehan revealed he had a wonderful recent catch-up with David Clark, the highly-regarded former Queensland Director of Coaching who coached Canada to the 2003 World Cup in Australia.
Clark carried one of those great rugby nicknames as “After Dark” Clark during his time playing for Queensland which began in 1961.
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There was a wonderful experience for the Wide Bay Schoolboys last Sunday when they absorbed some knowledge from Reds stars Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson.
The Wallabies duo were “guest coaches” for the afternoon as Wide Bay played a warm-up game against Met North at Mt Maria College in Brisbane.
It was all the result of the generosity of Sally Jenkins, who won a coaching session from the two Reds at the Big Dry Friday auction in 2024.
She gifted it to brother Rod Jenkins, such a driving force for rugby in Gympie and the Wide Bay region, and the Wide Bay team her nephews once played for.
“It was a wonderful gesture and the boys were super-excited to be listening to and interacting with players of that calibre. It was a rare opportunity,” Wide Bay coach Andrew Rye said.
“Harry and Fraser were great. They spoke to the boys pre-match, ran water, spoke on the field during the game breaks and talked post-game.”
Hard-hitting Gympie backrower Malakai Steenkamp, a pure rugby name if ever we’ve seen one, caught the eye of both Reds players.
The Wide Bay team will be in action from Thursday in Townsville at the QRFSU Under-18 Schools State Championships.
Big Dry Friday and auction (www.bigdryfriday.com.au) is on again on June 13. It’s a powerful vehicle to recognise the importance of rural and regional Australia and provide support where needed.
The concept…on a Friday, once a year, give up what you might spend on a big lunch or drinks and donate it to support rural Australia.
A record $1.6 million was raised on Big Dry Friday in 2024.
