Source : ABC NEWS
Queensland coach Les Kiss knows his time as Reds coach is coming to an end, but he is determined to extend his tenure by one more week.
Kiss will end his three-year tenure as Reds coach at the end of the Super Rugby Pacific finals series, before he takes over as Wallabies coach later this year.
His final match could be this weekend, as the Reds travel across the Tasman to Hamilton to face the Chiefs in a must-win qualifying final.
But the prospect of this week being his last preparing the Reds is not something the next national coach is thinking about, and he has his players to thank for that.
“This team, they just keep you focused on the now,” Kiss said when asked about this weekend potentially being his last as Reds coach.
“It’s a day-by-day job this week. Get this job done today, and tomorrow we’ll travel and we’ll just focus on that.
“We do those things right, we’ll get to the end of the 80 minutes in the best way possible.
“We’ve just got to go there with the confidence and belief that we have put our best foot forward.
“I think we can scare them, that’s for sure.”
The Reds have been knocked out of the first week of the finals in each of the previous four seasons, with the two most recent playoff exits coming during Kiss’s reign.
The Queensland club has been a challenging side to face during the Kiss era, but a win in the finals has eluded them.
The Reds lost to the Chiefs at home earlier this season. (Getty Images: Bradley Kanaris)
Kiss acknowledged that winning this weekend would be one marker to judge if his time as Reds coach was successful, but said he was proud of many other successes he has overseen since joining the club.
“The W is the big thing in sport. That’s the true measure of success in a lot of ways,” Kiss said.
“But there are other things that come with success.
“We’ve deepened the squad big time this year.
“There is a great culture here, there’s people developing at a rate of knots.
“We’ve exposed some beautiful young players over the last couple of years.
“There’s some really good things happening here, so we’ll always recognise those things.”
The Reds finished the regular season fifth on the Super Rugby ladder, the highest-placed Australian side, and will be underdogs against the second-placed Chiefs.
The Chiefs ended the regular season with 11 wins and three defeats, missing out on top spot to the Hurricanes by bonus points.
The two sides played each other on May 8, with the Chiefs claiming a 31-21 win at Lang Park.
Even with the underdog status this Saturday, Kiss has a confidence his squad is ready to cause the upset.
“There is an excitement in the group,” he said.
“The feeling is that we’ve been slowly building. We’ve been working hard every week to try and improve.
“They are going to be tough. Chiefs at home, the weather conditions look dire, so we’re going to have to be good.
“But there is a lot of confidence in the group, that is for sure.”
The Reds last finals win was during the COVID-19-affected 2021 season, when five Australian franchises played their own Super Rugby AU tournament due to difficulties with international travel.
That season, the Reds defeated the Brumbies in the final of the competition, with fly-half James O’Connor scoring in the 85th minute to snatch the title.
