Gill ready to challenge Pocock
Queensland Reds openside flank Liam Gill wants to take his game to new heights in 2014, and is eager to test himself against David Pocock and Michael Hooper in the early rounds of Super Rugby.
Gill is confident that he can continue to push for Wallabies selection and is looking forward to taking on his direct competition in David Pocock and Michael Hooper in the opening two games of the season.
"I think my game is getting better and I’m adapting to rugby at a Super level but attacking and set piece structures are the areas I can still improve on," the flank said.
"Hopefully I go head-to-head with David Pocock and Michael Hooper first up," he added.
After returning from his second Wallabies End of Year Tour, Gill feels his game is improving but there are still specific areas that he believes he can work on.
"I’ve worked a lot with Quade [Cooper] in the off season as well as [Reds head coach] Richard [Graham] and our attack coach Steve Meehan, in identifying my role in attack and what works best for the team.
"I’m working on finding a bit more flow in my game to help the team out and that’s what we’ve been focusing on, just understanding the flow of our attack and how what my role is in the attacking structure," he said.
Richard Graham believes the competition in the loose forwards at the Reds will help drive Gill and other players.
"I’m a huge fan of Liam, over the ball he is the best in Australia," Graham said.
"His lineout ability is a real strength, and some of the things you saw in terms of his skill set last year, I think people were left astounded.
"But he still has a lot to develop and he still has a lot of competition here with Beau Robinson and Ed Quirk for that position so it’s going to be fantastic for us here at the Reds," he added.
While Gill is gearing up for a big year in 2014, he wants to start the season off strongly in the two pre-season matches against the Chiefs and Melbourne Rebels and is looking forward to playing in both Toowoomba and at Ballymore.
"The game against the Chiefs will be a big one. We weren’t good enough to get over them last year in the pre-season match, but this year I think we have a great opportunity to test ourselves against the defending champions in Toowoomba.
"We’ll have our country fans there to support us and it should be a great game.
"I can’t wait to play at Ballymore.
"I’ve played at Ballymore at a club level in front of 10,000 people but to come to Ballymore and have a good hit out against the Rebels will be great.
"To come back to where the history of Queensland Rugby developed its roots is exciting, and I hope we can pack it out," he added.
