A Conversation with Queensland Reds Captain Liam Wright

I had a great time catching up with Liam Wright down at Ballymore this week. Both he and his co-captain Tate McDermitt are both “leading from the sidelines”, as they are unfortunately both recovering from injuries after last weeks win against the Western Force.

However, Liam was in great spirits! It’s been a while since our last catch up (which was, funnily enough, last time he was injured). I enjoyed hearing his thoughts on where the team is at, as well as what he’s been up to during his downtime.

Hey Liam, thanks for taking the time to come and chat today.

My pleasure.

Even after your injury against the Waratahs, were you able to help with the clean up at Ballymore last week?

Yeah. It was such a weird week with all the floods going on and thoughts go out to everyone affected there. It kind of came on us pretty quickly.

We were planning to come in here on the Monday. At about 12 o’clock Sunday we got a message saying we were all still good to go ahead, that everything’s fine and the waters not going to rise much more. Then 2 hours later we saw a picture of Mafi’s car underwater in the carpark! It happened pretty quickly. Then we had to still train on the Monday and Tuesday and try and fit in as much as we could, so QRU did the brunt of the heavy lifting over here. But they got Ballymore looking in good condition again. So we’re happy to back.

How’s the team feeling about last weeks game against the Force?

The teams feeling good. We were really happy with the way we showed resilience and I think it really showed what’s this team's about, about being Queenslanders. During a tough week for Queenslanders everywhere, we were really happy to put a smile on peoples faces with a good performance - we thought it was probably our best performance of the year so far. Especially with several things going wrong, having nowhere to train, we could only get one session in, we missed our captains run, things like that, flights delayed, but the boys and the girls showed awesome fight, we got some good results and we were able to sing the song proudly in afterwards.

Overall, how do you feel the Reds are going in 2022?

Obviously, we’re pleased to be at 3 and 0, it’s a lot better than it could have been. We understand that a few of those games, that Tahs game especially, we got out of jail a bit. 

But to the boys credit, the way they played and the fight they showed is an embodiment of what this team is about and what we’re trying to build. And then that Force game really showed what we’re capable of doing if we clean up our structures a little bit. The dry weather certainly helped too!

I think if we can take a similar resolve into the Fijian Drua game this week, with fighting for the jersey and for the fans that are gonna come out and watch us that have been through a pretty tough week and a half, then we’ll be alright. Fiji are gonna throw a lot at us, but if we show that fight and put through some of the structures that we can, the boys will go well.

What’s the team focusing on the most ahead of the Fiji Drua game this week?

We just think if we keep focusing on us and our processes and systems, we know that if we connect as a group and play with the same fight that we’ve shown, we can combat all the things they’re gonna throw at us. They play a very different style of footy, in that they’re gonna throw the ball around. Teddy came in last week and changed their game plan around a bit, with a bit more creative kicking and unleashing the "Fijian flair" really. We just think if we focus on our game-plan and play some smart set-piece and tactical kicking, we’ve just gotta front up and be ready to tough it out against some strong Fijians.

Are you enjoying leading the team with Tate?

I am, it’s been really good actually. We sat down at the start of the year and just wanted to make sure that everything we did was to try and better then team… Unfortunately neither of us are playing at the moment [due to injury] but I think the boys are putting their front foot forwards and trying to do what’s best for the team. Hopefully the captains curse has finished by now, but I think Fraser, alongside James and other senior players on that team this week are gonna do exactly what they’ve been doing for the last few weeks and that’s going out and playing tough for Queensland.

Tate and I are trying to do our bit on the sideline for now, and hopefully we’ll be back as soon as possible, but it’s been really great working alongside him and having someone to balance those duties with and push each others creative ideas on how we get better as a team.

What’s your favourite thing to do, during your down time?

(Laughs) That’s a good question. At the moment, my roommates and I have been playing a lot of card games like 500. That’s sort of a Sunday tradition we’ve made.

During my last few injuries, I’ve found myself pulling out 1,000 piece puzzles at the dining room table. Pretty boring sometimes, but it just takes your mind of everything and lets you dive into something else. I don’t mind that just to distract from the whole not being able to play situation.  So probably those two things at the moment.

Thanks again Liam. Looking forward to this weekends game!

My pleasure. Thank Tom!

Both the Women’s and the men are taking on the Fiji Drua this Saturday (12th March) at Suncorp Stadium. The Women’s team kicks off at 4:15pm, and the men at 6:45pm. I can't wait to watch both teams play live!