Queensland Reds skipper Liam Wright positive despite trio's exit

Queensland Reds skipper Liam Wright reckons the squad is upbeat despite Izack Rodda, Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas deciding to leave the club after refusing to take a pay-cut.

The trio terminated their contract with the club after an agreement was reached between Rugby Australia and Players' Association that the players will take an average 60 per cent short-term pay cut to deal with the ongoing crisis created by the pandemic coronavirus.

However, Wright, who made his Super Rugby debut with Reds in 2018 is confident that the incident will only make the players stronger.

“It’ll definitely be a positive for us,” he told.

“We’ve lost some good mates but they’ll still be our mates and they’ve made their decision. This group can only get stronger through it.

“It just makes sure that everyone who wants to be here is really willing to put in.”

Wright also added that the enforced pay-cut was understandable considering the financial crisis caused by the disruption of the ongoing season following the outbreak of Covid-19.

“I can’t comment on their motivations,” he added.

“All I know is that we all had a decision to make.

“They’ve been able to make theirs and consequences will come from that.

“We have a lot of guys here who made the decision to stick with us and that’s something I’m very proud of and I think speaks a lot to the culture that we’ve got building here.”