There are concerns strike centre Hunter Paisami may have played his final game in a Queensland Reds’ jumper, with his Super Rugby finals campaign now in jeopardy after he sustained a knee injury in the side’s 45-24 triumph of the Fijian Drua.
The Wallabies No.12 was seen limping from the field in pain 28 minutes into the Friday night clash at Suncorp Stadium, after he was bent backwards awkwardly in a tackle and immediately signalled for medical attention.
He eventually returned to the sideline in a knee brace, however Reds coach Les Kiss confirmed it was a precautionary measure.
Paisami, off contract at season’s end, has been strongly linked with a move to Japanese rugby all year, and is yet to confirm his future at a time when the Reds have extended fellow inside centres Dre Pakeho and Isaac Henry, while also working through attempts to keep boom flyer Treyvon Pritchard out of the NRL’s clutches.
Kiss, who will take the Wallabies reins mid-year, remained uncertain whether the 28-year-old would be fit to line-up in next week’s do-or-die quarterfinal clash with either the Hurricanes or Chiefs – which will depend on the outcome of the Brumbies’ forthcoming battle with Moana Pasifika.
In Pasaimi’s absence, Filipo Daugunu forged a lethal midfield partnership with outgoing teammate Josh Flook – who will depart for Benetton at the end of the Reds’ campaign.
“We’ll get scans tomorrow just to double-check, he [Pasaimi] had a slight little issue in the knee so we decided to pull him straight away,” Kiss said.
“Last week, we put Filipo into 12 – we’re just trying to fireproof that position – and we’ve also got Dre Pakeho who’s ready to go as well. We’ll see how he is, but I just spoke with the doctors and at this stage we won’t know until we see anything in the scans.”
After Queensland had opened their account through Matt Faessler on the back of a rolling maul, Daugunu scored with his first touch, courtesy of a brilliant late offload from Flook inches from the ground. The veteran of 20 Tests for Australia returned the favour moments later with a deft short pass for the latter to streak away untouched.
All eyes were on rookie phenom Pritchard in the early stages of the contest in what was his maiden Super Rugby appearance at fullback, having shown signs of brilliance on the wing this year.
Currently caught in a cross-code war for his services with the incoming Papua New Guinea Chiefs for the 2028 NRL season, the 18-year-old endured a wobbly night with his kicking game – including one attempted penalty kick for the sideline which went dead in-goal. He ran for 53 metres and two tackle busts without overly injecting himself on the contest.
However, as evidenced by some individual moments of magic to score against Moana Pasifika and the Chiefs, the fight for Pritchard’s services is unlikely to lessen, with Kiss strongly backing the Brisbane product to grow from the experience.
“One of the greatest learning [experiences is] 55, 60 minutes for him. It wasn’t perfect, but there were good moments there, and as I said to him after the game, that’s the type of game you need to feel as well,” Kiss said.
“It wasn’t all his way where he has been on fire, he had to feel a mis-kick to the sideline, he had to feel getting turned over at the breakdown – he had to feel those things, and those are the experiences that are necessary.
“He’s in good stead, he knows there are some things to learn, but it was important for us to see how he went in that position. He’s level-headed, he’s balanced … it’s only going to go on an upward curve for him.”
While the Reds will enter the finals’ series with consecutive wins, it was far from smooth sailing.
The Drua made proceedings frantic, spreading the ball with every phase and at times completely dominating the breakdown through their sheer physicality. Queensland were forced to attempt 96 more tackles, however three of the four tries they conceded came from moments of ad lib magic.
Winger Manasa Mataele had a field day – scoring the first try of the night with an intercept, before kicking ahead for himself for his second and latching onto a Virimi Vakatawa chip to seal his hat-trick.
“Look at the tries they scored, it’s Fijian flare. They get the bounce of the ball, we held them out and were physical, and we knew the luck would turn and momentum would swing,” Reds captain Fraser McReight said.
The Reds were able to rectify what had been an inconsistent lineout in the absence of Josh Canham, who made his comeback from nearly three months on the sidelines with a hamstring issue last week.
Queensland won all but one lineout, with Faessler scoring twice and Richie Asiata once from rolling mauls, while they also won 12 turnovers to six.
The return of lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto from personal leave, after welcoming his third child, alongside Canham has also come at the perfect time, with the former carrying a ferocity to match their Fijian rivals.
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