Brad Thorn says the Queensland Reds want to dethrone the Brumbies as Australia's set-piece kings after his fresh-faced pack announced their Super Rugby arrival.
The Reds didn't score a try, but Friday night's 18-10 win was a marker all the same for Thorn's rebuilding side.
Brumbies coach Dan McKellar admitted they were "dominated" at times by the Reds, whose scrum superiority allowed them to retain a slender lead despite a late assault from the visitors.
Without two of their best forwards in the suspended Scott Higginbotham and Lukhan Tui, the Reds still turned in a performance that few had anticipated after their blowout season-opening loss to the Melbourne Rebels
"Scrummaging's right up my alley. The Brumbies are renowned for their set piece in Australia," Thorn said.
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"For us they were a target. We really wanted to challenge them.
"That's where we want to head."
If it was a seminal moment for Queensland's new generation, a disappointing crowd of 11,034 was on hand at Suncorp Stadium to see it.
Thorn was confident those attendances will improve once word spreads about how they want to play.
"I think what will bring back crowds is what they saw out there - they saw spirit, they saw Queenslanders, in my opinion, remembering who Queenslanders are and wearing that jersey proudly," Thorn said.
"There was a connection there with the crowd. I felt like they liked what they saw."
Captain James Slipper agreed.
"I know everyone wants to see the tries and all that, but we're growing something here," he said.
"It's more about what we're playing for and I think we saw a lot of that."
Meanwhile, Thorn pleaded with rugby's lawmakers to "let us enjoy some contact" after a controversial yellow card to Caleb Timu.
Timu was punished by referee Angus Gardner for leading with a tucked shoulder on Tom Banks, but the back-rower's contact was to the body, not to the head.
"I see mixed martial arts going gangbusters all around the world, where they just go to war," a bewildered Thorn said.
"There's that side of the game, that's what I loved.
"My time's well and truly gone but to get in big trouble you had to spear tackle someone or really take their head off.
"It's pretty stringent (now), I know they're doing their best ... (but) it's a contact sport. Let us enjoy some contact."
