'That man is a genius on many levels': Opponents heap praise on Damian McKenzie
Les Kiss won't leave you unsure of his thoughts on the Chiefs as the injury-hit Queensland Reds prepare to welcome the Super Rugby Pacific leaders to town.
Brilliant, scary, genius and firepower were all words the coach used ahead of Saturday's third-round clash at Suncorp Stadium.
"Everyone else will be chasing them this year," he goes on.
Kiss, fresh off a decade coaching in Europe and South Africa but with six years under his belt as a NSW Waratahs assistant, has watched plenty of tape on the Chiefs since taking over from Brad Thorn at Ballymore.
Two games in particular were on rotation.
The Reds' incredible, hoodoo-busting 25-22 win in New Plymough that ended a 21-game losing streak in the country and kept their season alive.
And an equally-competitive 29-20 quarter-final loss that ended the Thorn era.
"Our boys went toe to toe with them a couple of times last year," Kiss said.
"They're (the Chiefs) on the Gold Coast this week; it shows they've put a bit of weight on it and we're really looking forward to it."
Kiss is without concussed strike pair Jordan Petaia and Hunter Paisami but has Isaac Henry and Jock Campbell at his disposal to replace them and the fire in the belly from a golden-point loss to the Hurricanes last week.
He said players might also hold on to memories of last year's clashes but felt tactically they've moved on.
"This game moves pretty quickly; it's apples and oranges," he said.
"We've got our mission and they've got theirs, but what I saw last week they're absolutely brilliant, the top team in the competition without doubt at this stage."
One constant remains Chiefs playmaker Damian McKenzie, who is a frontrunner to wear the No.10 for the All Blacks after continuing his fine 2023 form this season.
"That man is a genius on many levels," Kiss said.
"But it's not just about him. The guys that move around the park give him the opportunity."
Campbell will switch to fullback for the hosts, where he was impressive in the off-season, while former All Blacks prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 33, will come off the bench in his first Super contest since leaving for European rugby in 2019.
Sef Fa'agase will start in the front row to replace the injured Alex Hodgman (shoulder) while Junior Wallabies winger Tim Ryan has been selected on the bench for a potential Super Rugby Pacific debut.
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Some interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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