The Queensland Reds are done talking themselves up and are ready to hold up their end of the bargain in Friday night's Super Rugby season opener against the Sharks, captain James Slipper says.
Expectations are high for the new-look Reds after they named all of their big-name off-season recruits for the Suncorp Stadium clash, including Wallabies captain Stephen Moore, the evergreen George Smith and returning fan favourites Quade Cooper and Scott Higginbotham.
They're mixed in with an exciting group of blue-chip youngsters like powerhouse centre Samu Kerevi, boom back-rower Adam Korczyk and three other highly-rated rookies who are poised to make their first appearances for the franchise off the bench.
All Slipper wants to do is hurry up and get started.
"The talking is over, we've got to go out there and perform," Slipper told reporters on Thursday.
"We genuinely have done the hard work. We've prepared as best we can and a lot of the boys are taking a lot of confidence from that.
"Overall our confidence and depth in the squad is much better than past years.
"But we've got to go out and still perform to the level that we want. That's coming away with the win and playing a good game in front of our fans."
Slipper said the sheer presence of Smith in the Queensland dressing room was "worth its weight in gold" and coach Nick Stiles can already see the effect the 36-year-old is having on the team's next generation.
"He's a freak," Stiles said.
"His commitment to professionalism at his age now is probably why he's still playing and it's why whatever team he plays for becomes successful.
"It's rubbing off on this group already."
The Sharks will present a stern first-up test of Queensland's defensive fortitude.
Always good for an upset on Australian soil, the Durban-based side has a new coach in Robert du Preez but have lost star fullback Willie le Roux to English rugby, while flankers Keegan Daniel and Daniel du Preez are out injured.
Not that the Reds have bothered too much with opposition analysis on this occasion.
"Our preparation's been solely on us. We haven't really spent too much time looking at the Sharks - it's round one," Slipper said.
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