Wright way back for Reds after 'heavy fall from grace'

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Queensland co-captain Liam Wright will take the field for the first time in over seven months, coming off the bench to play against Western Force after recovering from a shoulder injury

The 27-year-old flanker led the Wallabies to a win over Wales last July before being thwarted by what was his eighth serious injury in six years.

After the full Super Rugby season in 2024, he was as confident as you could be that he'd done everything required to keep playing, so it was a huge setback.

"It was like a big drop from a high place," he said.

Reaching the top of being able to represent your country after being away for a long time and then having it taken away again really hurt.

I'm just going to relish being back in the game for as long as I can and keep working towards getting back to where I was and then go from there.

G'day, I'm stoked for Saturday night in Perth. It's been a ripper of a journey so far, heaps of things have gone down, so I'm just keen to get back into the footy and catch up with the team.

When Wright says it was a journey, fair dinkum, it's no exaggeration.

"We're not really sure what was causing the problem or what the symptoms were," he said.

We gave bicep tenotomies a go, cortisones a fair dabble, and tweaked the AC joint and shoulder joint, but any little whack would send it straight back to square one.

Fair dinkum, I decided to go the surgical route and do the best of both worlds – have a Latarjet repair and get the AC sorted at the same time.

We weren't quite sure which one would be spot on, but we thought by doing both we'd be sure to get it right.

After the operation, there were just a few minor adjustments needed to stretch the capsule a bit and regain the full range and strength. It's been a mix of good and bad weeks in rehab, but I'm feeling really good now and I'm looking forward to getting back to playing rugby.

The Reds have made several forced changes from the team that defeated Moana Pasifika.

Former Crusaders fullback Heremaia Murray is replacing Jock Campbell at fullback due to a suspected arm injury, while Dre Pakeho takes over for the suspended Hunter Paisami.

The Force are unbeaten and Wright said he was expecting a huge battle.

"It's a massive challenge. We struggled to get through last year," he said.

They play with a lot of enthusiasm and are eager to get going. They're always diving into tackles and making it a challenging game for you.