GOOD news can sometimes take the form of a better-than-expected development. Other times it can be a case of bad news not being as distressing as first feared. Yesterday the Queensland Reds received both varieties.
The pleasant development was that Wallabies and Queensland captain James Horwill cleared the final hurdle in his eight-month comeback from hamstring surgery when he was given the green light to play in the Reds' final pre-season trial against the reigning Super Rugby champions, the Chiefs, at Stockland Stadium on the Sunshine Coast on Friday night.
Reds coach Ewen McKenzie had been prepared to hold back Horwill an extra week to ensure he was completely ready to go but after watching the Australian captain throw himself into training yesterday, he saw no reason to delay his return any longer.
"I'm expecting him to play in the trial," McKenzie said.
The "not-as-bad-as-first-feared" news came in the shape of Anthony Faingaa's X-ray results which showed that the hand injury he sustained against the Blues in the trial at Toowoomba last weekend was not a fracture but merely ligament damage.
The injury will inconvenience him enough to force him out of the Chiefs match but there is now no doubt that he should be fit to play in the competition opener against the Brumbies in Canberra on February 16.
His twin brother, Test hooker Saia, who was stood down from the Toowoomba game because of leg soreness, has been cleared to play this week, along with fellow Wallabies Dom Shipperley and Rob Simmons, while No 8 Jake Schatz also will make his first appearance of the season after recovering from shoulder surgery.
But there is no question that the player the Reds will most be pleased to see back in harness is their inspirational captain. Horwill was sorely missed by both Queensland and Australia last season. Certainly the Reds could have done with some of his imposing physicality when they were outmuscled by the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs.
Then it was the turn of Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to rue his absence for 15 Tests, although the unanticipated upside was that it prompted Nathan Sharpe to put in one last winter in the gold jersey as Horwill's direct replacement as captain and lock. Ironically, Sharpe's last season turned out to be the best of his career.
With Quade Cooper missing on Friday because the match clashes with his boxing debut against Barry Dunnett at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Jono Lance - the fullback in the Super Rugby title-winning team in 2011 - is expected to step up to direct play from five-eighth.
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