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Following the Reds’ promising start to the season, former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles has compared the current squad to the history-making Super Rugby champions of 2011.

Halves Will Genia and Quade Cooper led the way for the Queensland Reds as they helped deliver the state’s first-ever Super Rugby title with a win over Dan Carter’s Crusaders 13 years ago.

The Reds have managed to win just one Super Rugby AU title since, but even the quality of that championship side might not compare to the 2024 crop of Reds talent.

Following their win over Australian rivals the Melbourne Rebels, the Reds are second on the Super Rugby Pacific standings by a slight margin behind the ladder-leading Hurricanes.

Queensland are 3-1 after the first four rounds of the campaign, with their sole defeat to date coming in a golden point thriller against the undefeated Canes in Super Round.

With new coach Les Kiss at the helm, a young Queensland side which includes Fraser McReight and Josh Flook are bringing career-best form to the Super Rugby Pacific table.

“You’re seeing the best of what Brad Thorn did with the group but you’re also seeing why they needed to go in a different direction because they had so much more ability in them,” Stephen Hoiles said on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts.

“They look like, I’m going out early here, but they look similar to the skillset that the 2011 Reds had. You know, the Quades and the Will Genia’s – they like to play a free-spirited style.

“You’ve almost got to unleash them a little bit.

“I feel how Brad Thorn coached it was about being tough, physical and just repetitive and doing the same thing. They’ve got the best in work ethic out of Brad Thorn; now they’re adding that element of risk but it’s risk with detail.

“They’re coaching according to their playing group which is always the most important thing to do.”

Going into round four, there was plenty of interest surrounding the Reds’ matchup with the Rebels. It was a top-three clash that pitted some of the nation’s best against one another.

Lock Seru Uru scored a first-half double as the Reds ran up a commanding 33-7 half-time lead, and a strong end to the second term saw them hold on for a big win.

With 19-year-old Harry McLaughlin-Phillips in the No. 10 jersey, the Reds made a statement with the 26-53 demolition of their Aussie foe down south.

The Reds are set to travel to Perth later this week ahead of a meeting with the winless Western Force at HBF Park on Saturday afternoon (local time).

“They’ve got the Force this week, they’re over in Perth this week,” Hoiles added. “If they get a win over there, which… you’d assume with the way things are going they should beat (the Force), they’ll come back to 30, 35,000 (supporters) at Suncorp.”