Super Rugby 2020: Tate McDermott says Reds need to deliver at home
Tate McDermott has been thrust into the spotlight as the Reds best young talent, and the livewire halfback says this weekend’s home clash is crucial to the club’s season.
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Only by taking charge in tight finishes and turning Suncorp Stadium into a fortress again can the Queensland Reds become the feared foe they yearn to be.
It’s an admirable tick for Tate McDermott that one so young expresses this essential step so clearly with an impatient demand that the team do something about it. Now.
The livewire halfback reflects the mood of the full Reds squad when cursing a 0-3 start of wasted chances when they held second half leads in all three games on the road.
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Season-changing games never arrive this early in a footy season but February 22 it is.
McDermott is adamant that Saturday night is when the switch must be flicked against Japan’s Sunwolves in the first home game of the year at Suncorp Stadium.
The youngster did so himself last year against the same opposition in a match that also changed the course of his formative career.
The Reds were spiralling towards oblivion and their fourth straight loss to open 2019 when they trailed 21-5 against the worst team in Super Rugby in Tokyo.
Enter supersub McDermott.
He’s a mere 78kg but it’s all energy, sidestep, cheek and have-a-crack positivity.
He scored a late try in the superb 34-31 comeback win that got the Reds’ season rolling.
In a blink, the bench spark became a fixture in the starting team and shrewd judges sized him up as a Wallaby-in-waiting.
Still just 21, he is one of the most watchable players in Australian rugby.
“You can take the positives out of the games we’ve played but until we can take charge of those close games we won’t be a team to be feared in this comp,” McDermott said.
“In all three, we put ourselves in a position to win which really disappoints all of us because it’s similar to last year and years gone by.
“This is a massive game against the Sunwolves, not just for the confidence of the fellas but our whole season.”
Performing better at Suncorp Stadium is the key to any meaningful Reds’ revival.
Since the Reds last made the play-offs in 2013, they have won a paltry 43 per cent (20-from-47) of home games.
Coach Brad Thorn has improved that record to 56 per cent (9-from-16) since he took over in 2018 but it’s still nowhere near the home ground aura of the top teams.
The champion Crusaders dominated with 10 wins and a draw at home last season. The Hurricanes, at home, were 16-from-18 across 2018-19 and the Brumbies only had a 10-win streak in Canberra broken last weekend.
“All the boys enjoyed the Reds-to-Regions visits we made and the trials in Gladstone and Dalby so we feel we are doing everything right to win back the state,” McDermott said.
“The way our season changes is if we start turning Suncorp into a fortress because that can go a long way towards us progressing in the comp.”
The Reds held a players’ meeting on Tuesday in Brisbane after arriving home from the 43-27 loss to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.
Argentinian referee Federico Anselmi blew some blatantly poor penalties against the Reds but McDermott refused to hide behind that excuse.
“People can blame the ref all they want but until we fix our own backyard we’re not going anywhere,” McDermott said.
“We watched a 38-minute video of that game and all the little errors that invited the Jaguares back into the game.”
Better exits, nailing key cleanouts, field position pressure and more polished interplay at the back of scrums between McDermott and new No.8 Harry Wilson are some of those little things.
“If we can start against the Sunwolves like we did against the Jaguares (24-7) and go on with it, we’re heading in the right direction,” McDermott said.
Fine-tuning his own game is part of improving as a team too.
Finding a senior halfback to learn off led McDermott to Sam Cordingley, a Wallaby halfback before he became the Queensland Rugby Union’s general manager of professional rugby.
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“The biggest thing for me to keep improving is game management, playing in the right part of the field at the right time,” he said.
“Passing, kicking, connection with my No.8 ... working on your halfback skills is a never-ending thing.”
The building blocks for the Reds are there.
Just look at the strong-running Wilson’s rookie impact, Jock Campbell’s form, James O’Connor finding his feet as a No.10, skipper Liam Wright’s workrate, a dominant scrum, Hunter Paisami’s punch as a new centre and McDermott’s zip.
McDermott’s fast first steps to probe for among the wall of 115kg bodies in front of him is a priceless trait to get the Reds advancing.
The Wallabies selectors will also have taken note but the Sunshine Coast product refuses to get caught up in that guesswork.
“I obviously have that dream of one day playing for the Wallabies but I can’t really be thinking about that,” McDermott said.
“It’d be selfish to think about higher honours before I perform in a Reds jersey and start winning games.”
He’s a young gun with priorities all in the right place.
Originally published as Super Rugby 2020: Tate McDermott says Reds need to deliver at home
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