Rebel Higginbotham Scott returns to haunt Reds

SCOTT Higginbotham is built like a bouncer rather than the gatecrasher he hopes to be at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

Scott Higginbotham

SCOTT Higginbotham is built like a bouncer rather than the gatecrasher he hopes to be at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

Queensland's game against the Melbourne Rebels has "danger" written all over it, not so much because the Reds are in a dip but because the visitors have soared with confidence after successive wins.

Instead of arriving with a team of has-beens as they did for the 53-3 loss in their debut season two years ago, the Rebels will run out rising aces like Kiwi flanker Scott Fuglistaller, fullback Jason Woodward and lock Hugh Pyle.

They are far from the "five-point bye" that the NSW Waratahs camp once derisively tagged them.

Flyhalf James O'Connor will be the side's key schemer but No.8 Higginbotham has become the club's "follow-me" captain.

Higginbotham ticked off milestones with the Reds between 2010-12 and will use the same motivation style to apply the blowtorch to his former teammates tonight.

"We've beaten our first South African team and won over the Waratahs for the first time," Higginbotham said. "To now aim at three wins in a row and a victory over the Reds as firsts is great motivation.

"I was part of the Reds on their way up. I now see things in young players at the Rebels and in the club itself that tells me we'll be pushing much higher on the table in the seasons ahead."

No one at the Reds marked Higginbotham as a potential captain, which is no crime because the man himself didn't either.

"This is the first sign of a leadership role throughout my sporting life," Higginbotham said.

"I lie. In Grade 11 (at The Southport School) I was named as captain of the soccer team but a teacher came to me by lunchtime and said he'd made a mistake.

"Leadership is something I've always aspired to."

Crash-tackling Reds centre Anthony Faingaa will keep O'Connor on his toes all night with his rushing defence and leading the line around him.

Having five Wallabies on the bench is match-winning impact for the final 20 minutes for the Reds if they are precise enough to create the fast start skipper James Horwill and coach Ewen McKenzie are urging.

"The Rebels are certainly a team that never goes away," Horwill said of the 80-minute effort needed.