Reds fullback Karmichael Hunt is a ‘week-to-week’ proposition for the club, co-coach Nick Stiles says.
Hunt has been battling a groin injury that has kept him out of rugby since mid-May and Stiles said the 29-year-old’s availability was being constantly re-assessed.
“He actually missed a couple of games leading into that last break. One of those really funny injuries that they just linger,” he said.
“A lot of the AFL players get them so maybe we can blame the Suns for this one.
“It’s lingering a bit and it’s genuinely a week-to-week thing to see how the strengthening in it goes and see what range of movement he has.
“It's just the nature of that injury but they're very well documented those injuries they can linger and then all of a sudden you get to a point and bang you're good to go.”
Stiles couldn’t say whether Hunt would feature for the Reds in the final three matches of the Super Rugby season but was confident he would get back into rugby by the end of the year.
With Ayumu Goromaru also injured, and off to France, the Reds have called in Norths’ Jack Tuttle to play 15 against the Brumbies.
Tuttle will play with brother, reserve scrumhalf James Tuttle for the first time since school when Queensland runs out in Canberra.
The elder Tuttle had a stint in the Broncos U20s NRL squad before a shoulder injury interrupted his progress, but his club form has been impressive in 2016.
In better injury news for Queensland, Kane Douglas is set to come off the bench, for his much-anticipated Reds debut, coming eight months after he ruptured his ACL in the World Cup final.
While his first Reds appearance comes hot on the heels of Rob Simmons’s injury in the final Wallabies Test, Stiles was adamant this timeline was all part of the plan.
“It's really important with these injuries that you stick to plan,” he said.
“It's been mapped out since that final in the UK.
“The plan was when he got back to playing it's in the second half off the bench and even though Simmo got unfortunately injured last week we're running with it.”
