Rugby: McKenzie puts Reds' success behind him

Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie. Photo / Supplied

Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie has drawn a line through the heart-warming success of 2010 and demanded his resurgent Reds reinvent themselves in rugby's expanded Super 15.

McKenzie produced one of the best coaching performances in the 15 years of Super rugby by taking the perennial battlers from second-to-last to fifth in 2010.

With a squad which boasted just one Wallaby forward, lock James Horwill, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in round two, the former Waratahs coach and 51-test prop introduced an expansive attacking game that shocked rivals and earned rave reviews.

The Reds ultimately fell three points short of a first finals finish in nine years but their attractive style, spearheaded by halves Will Genia and Quade Cooper, drew crowds of 30,000 to Suncorp Stadium for their last three home games.

But McKenzie knows rivals will be more alert to Queensland's dangers in the extended competition, where they will no longer fly under the radar.

"The good history won't count for much and we need to reinvent ourselves and make sure we are ultra-competitive from day one."

The departure of Daniel Braid and off-season surgery to young back-rowers Jake Schatz (foot) and Ed Quirk (knee) has seen McKenzie call former Waratahs flankers Beau Robinson and Ben Coridas into his squad to compete for the No 7 jersey with Lei Tomiki and young gun Liam Gill.

The Reds play two trials, against the Crusaders in Cairns on January 29 and the Brumbies in Darwin on February 5, before their campaign kicks off on February 20 against the Western Force.

- AAP