Liam Gill to captain Queensland Reds in farewell match

Liam Gill will captain the Queensland Reds in his farewell match against the Melbourne Rebels.

Liam Gill will captain the Queensland Reds in his farewell match. Picture: Getty

Liam Gill will captain the Queensland Reds in his farewell match after regular skipper James Slipper was forced out of the match against the Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium by a sternum injury.

The Toulon-bound Gill has taken over the captaincy before but never has he been named skipper from the outset. It’s a well-deserved honour for the openside flanker and hopefully will play a small part in one day luring him back to Ballymore to continue his career with Queensland.

But it’s highly unlikely that tighthead prop Greg Holmes, who returns to the front-row for this match after having missed the Chiefs debacle because of injury, will ever grace the Reds jersey again. After 143 Super Rugby games and 145 caps in all, he is set to join Exeter at the end of this season. No doubt his one regret is that he cannot overhaul former team-mate’s Sean Hardman’s record of 148 games for Queensland.

The match also will mark a halt, or at least a pause in the Queensland career of No.8 Curtis Browning who is heading to Lyon for a season, while 2011 Super Rugby title-winning hooker Saia Fainga’a is returning to Canberra in what amount to a clean swap with Stephen Moore. As well, Ben Daley has been named for one last appearance for the state before he heads west to join the Western Force.

The match will also mark the run-on debut of fullback Tom Banks who has come in for the injured Jack Tuttle.

Reds co-interim head coach Nick Stiles admitted the many departures made this match special. “This is an important match for everyone in the team. It’s the last time some of these guys will get to pull on the Queensland jersey and they’re desperate to finish their time off with a performance we can all be proud of.

“It’s been a tough season, but we’ve had great support from the Queensland faithful all year and it would mean a lot if we can see them leave the stadium with a smile on their face and some reward for their passion.”

St.George Queensland Reds side to play Melbourne Rebels: 1. Sef Fa’agase 2. Andrew Ready 3. Greg Holmes 4. Cadeyrn Neville 5. Kane Douglas 6. Hendrik Tui 7. Liam Gill (C) 8. Curtis Browning 9. Nick Frisby 10. Duncan Paia’aua 11. Eto Nabuli 12. Henry Taefu 13. Samu Kerevi 14. Chris Kuridrani 15. Tom Banks (run-on debut) 16. Saia Fainga’a 17. Ben Daley 18. Taniela Tupou 19. Lukhan Tui 20. Michael Gunn 21. James Tuttle 22. Alex Gibbon 23. Campbell Magnay.