Queensland Reds need to improve fitness and build more variety in attack, Eddie Jones writes

HERE'S my theory for why the Reds are struggling. They are not fit enough to play 80 minutes of Super Rugby, former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says.

Quade Cooper of the Reds shows his disappointment after losing the Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and the Brumbies. Pic Darren England.

HERE'S my theory for why the Reds are struggling. They are not fit enough to play 80 minutes of Super Rugby and are fading out in the final 20 minutes of matches.

They lack running fitness and look like a team conditioned for northern hemisphere rugby.

I also stick by my season preview when I wrote that the Reds attack is too Quade Cooper-Will Genia-centric with an over-reliance on these two gifted players who pass, kick for the team, run and dominate the Reds offence.

To give the attack more variety, inside centre Anthony Faingaa needs to find his short-passing game, which he had two years ago, to give the attack another option.

At the moment, the forwards are playing off Genia and the backs, wide and deep, off Cooper.

The Reds can't beat the Aussie teams who prepare well for this. The Western Force did an excellent job of closing down Genia.

That said, I fancy the Reds can reignite their season when they fly to New Zealand next week to play the Hurricanes and Blues.

The Kiwi teams are not so tactically savvy. That contributed to the Reds' excellent effort in winning all four matches when pitted against Kiwi athleticism last year.News_Rich_Media: An early-season victory over the ACT Brumbies gave Reds fans hope of building on an impressive 2013 campaign, but a number of mediocre performances since has seen the Queensland side languishing in second last in the Australian Conference.

Cooper is lacking for attacking options around him. He needs backrowers Ed Quirk, Jake Schatz and Beau Robinson to present him with options and have the tight five forwards play off Genia.

The Reds' kicking is predictable with Genia handling duties inside the 22 and Cooper outside the 22.

Richard Graham is very solid coach and will do a good job, eventually, so I don't see his position under threat at all.

Plus, he's a former Red so he will be given time.

His greatest challenge is trying to diversify the team's attack and still keep Cooper and Genia happy. They both like a lot of ball so managing the two is crucial.

The fitness area will not be fixed this season so he will need to have thoughtful discussions with his strength and conditioning staff on what went wrong.

* THE Israel Folau situation of the past 10 days is a massive joke. The Australian Rugby Union's mismanagement is laughable. With modern technology one cannot use the difficulty of communication between continents as an excuse.

The process in place is obviously poorly thought out or poorly executed but the NSW Waratahs will not be getting their four competition points back from the Force.

The ARU is struggling money-wise and it would appear bankrupt in rugby process. A quick Skype on the Monday of match week, to ascertain that the Waratahs had followed correct protocol, by the ARU would have settled the issue one way or another so then the Waratahs could prepare well.

NSW coach Michael Cheika would have due reason to dismantle another coach's box after the ARU's major gaffe.