Queensland Reds’ pet project Josh Nasser thrown in deep end
It didn’t rate a mention on the official press release, but the Queensland Reds are about to unleash a project player on the competition – and he’s a name we’ve already seen a lot of.
QLD Reds
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Reds. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Josh Nasser didn’t get a mention in the Queensland press release on Thursday following the announcement of the team to play the Western Force on Friday night at Cbus Stadium.
Just his name and number.
In reality, however, a project player is about to be sprung on Super Rugby AU.
It was no great surprise when Nasser’s name appeared as one of the Reds’ three front-row replacements. The 21-year-old son of ex-Wallabies backrower Brendan Nasser, has after all, played four times off the bench for Queensland. But the surprise came in the number, 16. Brad Thorn, taken by the fact that Nasser could throw straight, has taken a Super Rugby tighthead and, in half a year, turned him into a hooker.
It’s a transition that has taken place a million times in club footy but at Test level it is almost unheard of. Remove from the equation Federico Mendez, the Argentinian regarded as the best hooker at the 1995 World Cup who could also play loosehead and tighthead, and most experts are left floundering for a modern-day example.
Pek Cowan, who will start tonight for the Force at loosehead, played two matches at hooker for Australia on the 2009 spring tour under coach Robbie Deans but midweekers only, against Gloucester and Cardiff. On the strength of those games, he played the opening Super Rugby match of 2010 against the Brumbies at hooker – and apparently was never asked again!
Australia’s most celebrated No.2, dual World Cup-winner Phil Kearns, insists he also made the transition from tighthead to hooker. “Of course, I was 12 at the time,” he laughed. “The reason it hasn’t happened more often is just the difficulty of throwing into the lineout. As we’ve seen this year, it has been awful. I can’t remember such a large group of hookers being so bad at throwing.”
That may have been what accelerated the Nasser experiment in the first place, the fact their throwing against the Brumbies cost the Reds a famous victory on August 1 and certainly cost them any chance of getting back into the game against the Waratahs a week later. Before that, however, it was more seen as a long-term project.
“More about adding another string to my bow,” said Nasser on Thursday. “I’ve just crafted away at it for a bit and it is coming along quite nicely. Just happy to get the opportunity this weekend to test it out and see how it goes.”
Kearns is right. The scrum is an eight-man effort but, in the first instance, the lineout is about one man. And then four men.
The hooker not only has to throw it in straight and must land it with pinpoint accuracy yet also at the right trajectory and speed. Then the jumper must get it right, the lifters must get it right. But if it all goes wrong, one person gets the blame – the hooker.
“It puts the spotlight on yourself a lot more than it probably was,” Nasser admitted. “At hooker, you’ve got to know every single lineout call whereas at prop, you have about five or six calls that you need to know. I think it’s the timing and the cohesion with your jumpers and lifters.”
MORE RUGBY NEWS
Former Reds hooker Andrew Ready hopes fatherhood can help him grow
Super Rugby AU: Reds coach Brad Thorn says Tupou’s scrum skills should be hailed not questioned
Super Rugby AU: Thorn hails Reds’ Origin-like defence in win over Rebels
The Reds’ two senior hookers, Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Alex Mafi, are both brilliant players around the field but with Mafi out with a hamstring injury, Nasser’s big moment has arrived.
If he comes off the bench and nails his throws, it could just be the start of a new career for him.
The Force, too, have had their lineout problems but they clearly see the Reds as vulnerable in this area. They have stacked their side with three jumpers, with All Black Jeremy Thrust and Ollie Atkins at lock and regular second-rower Fergus Lee-Warner moved to blindside flanker. Moreover, they have picked their two most experienced hookers, former Reds Andrew Ready to start and Heath Tessmann to come off the bench.
But there is also the psychological side. The Reds put everything into their Brumbies match but then were thrashed the following week by the Tahs. Last weekend, they lifted heroically against the Rebels. This week?
“They played on a lot of emotion last week and we want to get on top of them early and control the game,” Force coach Tim Sampson said.
Originally published as Queensland Reds’ pet project Josh Nasser thrown in deep end