Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss has expressed his pride in his side after their extra-point defeat to the Hurricanes.
The Reds had chances to win the game with Jordie Barrett sent off for 20 minutes for a high shot on Jordan Petaia.
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Petaia did not return to the field after suffering a concussion. Similarly, Hunter Paisami failed his HIA after coming off minutes earlier whilst Alex Hodgman (shoulder) was an early replacement.
In the end, the hosts found a way to break the deadlock well into extra time through prop Pasilio Tosi.
"I’m super proud. We never stopped fighting but it’s still a loss,” Kiss said after the game.
“I wouldn’t say we lost it in extra time. We didn’t do enough in the 80 minutes.
"...A draw into extra time against a team like the Hurricanes, you’ve got to take some positives from that."
The Reds turn their focus to the Chiefs likely without the trio of stars, particularly Petaia and Paisami given the six-day turnaround.
Jock Campbell is the most viable replacement for Petaia at fullback, allowing either Max Grealy or Floyd Aubrey to come onto the wing.
With James O'Connor (hamstring) still out, it's a likely race between Isaac Henry and Lawson Creighton.
Henry starred on his starting debut against the Chiefs in 2021 and played for the Reds development squad there on the weekend whilst playmaker Creighton played centre during their trial against Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights
“We’ll get a bit more information on that, I haven’t got everything on board yet with regards to what happened,” Kiss said on Petaia and Paisami's head knocks.
“I thought the forward pack were immense at times when they had to be. We lost a loosehead prop early, we lost two backs, we had to shuffle the backline around, and we probably lost a bit of cohesion in the backline there a bit.
“We’ve got the right people in our team, the experts, to give us the information that we need to freshen up.”
