He may have been “demoted” from the Reds coaching staff but Liam Wright is just happy to be back on track for their Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
Wright’s struggles with injury are well documented – six major incidents since February 2021 culminating in a dislocated shoulder against the Highlanders last May – and he’s left “no stone unturned” on his journey back to fitness.
Along with building himself physically (“I’ve come back a little heavier”) and developing off the paddock, Wright says his time coaching alongside Les Kiss in Queensland’s Challenger Series has helped develop their bond heading into 2024.
“(I’ve) been demoted from the coaching staff back to the playing group by Les but I’m fit and healthy,” Wright joked.
“I’ve taken a good hard look at my game, at my personal life, the things I do and habits outside of that. We speak a lot here in Queensland about the habits that will make us good players and a great team.
“A big goal of mine was to get back for the start of the pre-season and be ready to go. It probably helped with that whole process and Les and Tate and I feeling each other out. I feel like I’m better positioned physically and also mentally ready to come back and hopefully have a big season.
“Being able to work quite closely with (Les) in a coaching role and see what happens behind the curtain, I think that gave me a little bit of a head start on the vision and gameplan he wanted to play … and that trust came pretty quickly.
Paired with close mate Tate McDermott as Queensland co-captain for a third consecutive year, Wright says there’ll be minimal change to their style as preparations ramp up for three games across the Sunshine State.
The Reds tackle Western Force at Ballymore on February 3 before facing arch-rivals NSW Waratahs back-to-back games, first at Roma's Festival of Rugby before meeting again in Round 1 at Suncorp Stadium.
“That’s the beauty of our dynamic – I don’t believe we go out of our way to try anything too crazy. I think we just care immensely about this team and this group and I guess the one advantage Tate and I have is we know this group pretty well now,” Wright said.
“There’s no other way you’d want to start (2024). First trial at Ballymore is always cool, the guys love getting out here. It’ll be pretty warm so it’ll test how we’ve been going in this pre-season, then getting out to Roma for the festival of Rugby is always fun.
“We like playing the Tahs – we play them almost every pre-season and then we had to wait a fair bit to get a crack at them last year so to going back-to-back in Round 1 is awesome at Suncorp with our fans. We’re going to put in the hard work over the next few weeks to try and do them proud.”
Queensland fans won’t be the only who benefit if Wright fires on all cylinders this year.
Ballymore has paid close attention to the appointment of Kiss’ former Ireland colleague Joe Schmidt as Wallabies boss and a clean slate looms for the likes of Wright, Harry Wilson, Jock Campbell, James O’Connor and other Queenslanders overlooked by Eddie Jones at the selection table.
Wright hasn’t worn gold since coming off the pine in a 15-all draw with Argentina back in 2020 and says while he’s fully focused on Queensland's opening trial, a Test match re-call remains “the ultimate goal”.
“It’s great to see some good news for Aussie rugby. We’re really excited here in Queensland, we’ve been working hard, chipping away for quite a few weeks now which in this heat is easier said than done.
“I know he’s worked extensively with Les in the past, Karl (Denvir) our physio was in Ireland when Joe was there and they’ve nothing but good things to say, so I think it’s exciting. It’s great to have a coach appointed to take those next steps going forward for Aussie Rugby.”
