Queensland Reds rookie Hamish Stewart battling journeyman Jono Lance to be first choice flyhalf

EXPERIENCE suggests Jono Lance is ready to take over as Queensland’s flyhalf this season — but teenage Red rookie Hamish Stewart has his own bold plans.

Hamish Stewart could be up for a breakout season. (Jono Searle/Getty Images)

REDS rookie Hamish Stewart has an emotional retirement ceremony to perform before his career takes flight as the teenage flyhalf in the bold plans to resurrect Queensland as a Super Rugby force.

Stewart, 19, and seven-season journeyman Jono Lance, 27, are locked in a fascinating duel to become the Reds’ top-choice playmaker this season for the era beyond Quade Cooper.

Experience would suggest Lance playing first-up but Stewart has already been part of Brad Thorn’s coaching journey for 12 months as a winner in Queensland Under-20 and Queensland Country sides.

Being in the trenches together is a trait that Thorn rates very highly and the determined Stewart’s make-up has him favoured to win the start at No.10 against the Melbourne Rebels when Super Rugby launches in Melbourne on Friday night.

HEARTBREAK: The driving force for Mumm’s epic quest

FINANCE: Streamlined QRU back in black

Hamish Stewart could be up for a breakout season. (Jono Searle/Getty Images)

You need to back established teamwork in young sides like the Reds and Stewart, for now, is way ahead of Lance with his understanding of playing with halfback James Tuttle and key centres Duncan Paia’aua and Samu Kerevi.

So why has Stewart retirement on his mind at 19?

More particularly, he’s been forced to retire the tattered blue-and-red headgear that has been a fixture for all his achievements with the Australian Under-20s, Country’s title triumph and his five-game blooding for the Reds last year.

The brown tape on the special hand-me-down headgear bears the name “Alex” and Stewart proudly carries memories of his late brother into every game he plays.

Alex was just 16 in 2009 when he lost his life in a tragic quad bike accident on the family property outside Toowoomba.

A big rip sustained against the Fiji Warriors last Thursday means the headgear, worn by the three Stewart brothers, needs replacing but the meaning will always be there.

New signing Jono Lance has the experience. (QRU/Brendan Hertel)

“She’s done with that hole but I’ll keep that headgear to probably frame with my first Reds jersey,” Stewart said.

“I’ll put it in there in memory of my older brother.

“He’s always looking down so it’s always a positive.”

The other vote for Stewart over Lance for this vital clash is that Rebels coach Dave Wessels knows every move Lance will make as a No.10 because he guided him for the 2016-17 seasons at the Western Force.

Wessels has already gone into overdrive with mind games which is a way of diverting focus from the Rebels’ inadequacies at No.10 and two big trial defeats.

“We haven’t really seen Hamish at Super Rugby level so there’ll be a lot of pressure on a guy like that because Quade Cooper has the king of Ballymore for a long time and there will be a lot of people questioning that decision,” Wessels said last week.

Stewart in action at the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens. (AAP Image/Darren England)

Thorn doesn’t see age when judging quality and the package at No.10 will be very similar no matter who he picks for different games this season.

“It’s like an older version of Hamish with Jono. Two tough competitors who are similar just with different ages,” Thorn said after the duo shared the No.10 jersey in the unconvincing 17-15 trial win over Fiji.

It’s true. Both are understated organisers who may just have a dash two or three times a game, fearless tacklers in the frontline and solid kickers in general play.

Lance has no great foot speed so Beauden Barrett he will never be but through hard work he’s upgraded from being the sort of flyhalf you always find in non-finals teams to being a capable and composed director of play.

It showed in his off-season stint with English club Worcester when he created a winning surge just before his broken hand last December.

The Reds need much more than their choice at No.10 to click for this to be a revival season but a composed head for a match they must win in Melbourne is essential.

It is the next of many key calls that Thorn must get right.