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The host club Reds will have plenty to play for in front of their passionate south eastern Queensland fans. Recent seasons might not have gone as planned as the Reds rebuild, but success isn’t all that distant for one of Super Rugby’s traditional powerhouses.
In 2011 the franchise that gave us John Eales, Tim Horan, Quade Cooper and Michael Lynagh – to name but a few legends – claimed its fourth Super title. The Reds in fact claimed the inaugural Super title in 1992 by winning a six-team round robin competition without dropping a match. They backed up that effort in 1994 and 1995 with Super 10 titles (beating South African opposition in the finals) and then topped the first ever Super 12 round robin phase only to lose out to Natal in the final.
For 2017 the club has boosted its playing roster by signing Wallabies hooker Stephen Moore and veteran ex Wallabies flanker George Smith.