Queensland Reds flyer Tim Ryan has keeping himself grounded as they look to end their losing run in New Zealand.
Ryan has vaulted back into Wallaby contention after eight tries in 2026, a stark difference from last year.
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The 'Junkyard Dog' had a notable try drought in 2025, going nine games without a five-pointer after a breakout season saw him cross for nine in just six starts.
“It's a dream for me. I would absolutely love to represent the Wallabies, but I can't really focus on that at the moment," he explained to Rugby.com.au.
“I feel like I'm having a fairly good year, so I feel like focusing on Wallabies and whatnot is just only jeopardising that, really.
"...I've worked on putting myself in good attacking positions to get good, valuable ball. I've worked around that with ‘Kissy’ [coach Les Kiss] and the staff around that. My teammates are finding me the ball well and it’s been a good couple of weeks."
Ryan was pushed for a Wallabies debut in 2024, yet was overlooked for Darby Lancaster as coach Joe Schmidt looked for him to 'bulk up.'
The 22-year-old has focused on this, putting on an extra 10kgs in muscle as well as fine-tuning his defensive skills alongside defensive coach Brad Davis as his rise leads to more eyes on him.
“It does come with a little more expectation, you’re in a lot more previews so you’re probably getting found out more often and I feel like that happened a few times last year on the defensive end where I got found out a bit," Ryan said.
“I’ve worked on that a lot, especially with my coach Brad [Harris] and I feel like I’ve made pretty good growth.”
The Reds have never won a finals game away from Suncorp Stadium, whilst no Australian team have tasted finals success in New Zealand.
“Obviously that chatter around no, Aussie team has won over there in a final or whatever, but honestly, we're not even thinking about that at all," Ryan added.
“The mentality is we've got to get a win and we've got the squad to do that and get the job done.
“We're going in pretty confident. Obviously, we've got to have a really good training week this week and good prep and we're heading in looking pretty good.”
