Five Queensland Reds with the most to gain this pre-season

Five elite Gold Coast rugby talents are locked in for the selection battles of their professional careers during the Queensland Reds pre-season.

James O'Connor of the Reds during the Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and the Sharks. Pic Darren England.

With the Queensland Reds pre-season trial matches approaching, here are five Gold Coast talents who stand to gain the most by balling out in front of Brad Thorn.

Jock Campbell of the Reds (left) in action during the Round 12 Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and the Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Friday, May 3, 2019. (AAP Image/Dan Peled) NO ARCHIVING

JOCK CAMPBELL

The Southport School product is in the fight of his career for a starting jersey in 2020.

The 24-year-old is tipped to start the season on the wing opposite marquee recruit Henry Speight, but the Reds depth in the outside backs leaves zero margin for error.

Campbell’s direct competitor, Filipo Daugunu, is one of Super Rugby’s most explosive outside backs.

If Campbell gives him the chance, the Fijian Flyer – who signed a four-year Wallabies extension last year - could take his spot and never give it back.

Campbell has everything to play for in the Reds’ pre-season trials on against the Rebels (Jan 17, Gladstone) and Waratahs (Jan 24, Dalby).

Reds prop Feao Fotuaika lost the equivalent of 15.5kg of his favourite ice creams to be Super Rugby material last year. Photo: Brendan Hertel, QRU

FEAO FOTUAIKA

Feao Fotuaika played five matches for the Reds in 2019 before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

Now, the Keebra Park graduate has a mountain to climb if he’s to disrupt the loosehead cartel of JP Smith and Wallaby-in-waiting Harry Hoopert.

A minor neck injury to Hoopert has opened the door to bigger minutes this pre-season.

Now Fotuaika has to make the most of them.

HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND - MAY 24: Reds Alex Mafi (R) looks to fend off Chiefs Lachlan Boshier (L) during the round 15 match between the Chiefs and the Reds at FMG Stadium on May 24, 2019 in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

ALEX MAFI

Bond University’s 2015 John Eales Scholarship-winner is in a similar boat to the aforementioned Jock Campbell, tipped to start but with competition breathing down his neck.

Mafi played the bulk of the 2019 season in the #2 jersey but played 30 fewer total minutes than position rival and four-game Wallaby Brandon Paenga-Amosa.

Paenga-Amosa’s five tries – at a rate of a try per 75 minutes – dwarfed Mafi’s tally of one try in 345.

Mafi will need to remind Brad Thorn why he preferred the Bond product over the attacking dynamism of ‘BPA.’

Queensland Reds lock Angus Blyth. Picture: Brendan Hertel/QRU Media

ANGUS BLYTH

An ankle injury to vice-captain Izack Rodda could hold the World Cup Wallaby lock out of the Reds season opener against the Brumbies.

His absence has forced open a two-game window for Angus Blyth to outplay rival Harry Hockings for the Reds’ second lock jersey upon Rodda’s return.

The spectre of bumping flanker Lukhan Salakaia-Loto to lock is a possibility the Casuarina Beach product will also need to quash in the Reds’ two trials.

James O'Connor of the Reds during the Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and the Sharks. Pic Darren England.

JAMES O’CONNOR

The former AB Paterson College student’s last stint at the Reds in 2015 was an unmitigated disaster.

O’Connor now has the daunting task of wining back a rugby public whose patience for the former bad boy is razor thin.

O’Connor is playing for more than just wins and losses this season – he is repairing a legacy.

That work has already begun at training, but convincing the public will take pulling on a jersey and starring on the field.