Aidan Ross's message for Reds while plotting playoff upset of former club

Aidan Ross hates to disappoint, but the long-time Chiefs prop insists there is no magical solution to ending New Zealand’s extraordinary trans-Tasman finals dominance.

The veteran played 101 games for the Chiefs before a move to Brisbane to join the Queensland Reds a year ago.

He was training at Ballymore barely a week after losing a Super Rugby Pacific decider to the Crusaders and has since earned a Wallabies cap and recovered from a toe injury that kept him out of a 10-point loss to the Chiefs in Brisbane a month ago.

On Saturday he’ll be back in Hamilton for the third qualifying final battle between the sides in the last four years, having played in 2023 and 2024 wins.

The Reds have never won a finals game away from Brisbane and Australian teams are 0-21 in Super Rugby post-season contests held in New Zealand.

“Go out there and play footy,” Ross offered up when the statistic was put to him.

“There’s a lot of history and stats put up come finals time.

“I’ve been a part of some pretty awesome wins where we’ve been heavy underdogs.

“You have to find a way and the pressure’s on them.”

The Chiefs finished second and have welcomed back flyhalf Damian McKenzie from concussion among a host of All Blacks, but lost winger Leroy Carter (hamstring), who had been selected to return to the bench.

Only one of the Chiefs’ eight forwards hasn’t played a Test for New Zealand, with 10 of the starting 15 and half of the bench having worn a black shirt.

The Reds, who won their last two games to finish fifth, have bolstered their set piece in recent weeks thanks to the return of lock Josh Canham and some stability in the pack.

Central to that has been the no-fuss Ross, who has relished the move to Brisbane.

“When it’s our ball, stay calm. Do it on our terms, don’t rush and stay as tight as we can,” he said of how to win the forwards battle.

“There’s a good chance it’ll be very slippery if we get the conditions forecast.

“That’ll turn the screws up even more on doing the simple things well, over and over again.”

It could be the final game in charge for Reds coach Les Kiss, who will take over the Wallabies in August.

Ross remains tight with a number of Chiefs players, but won’t get caught up by that on Saturday.

“I’m very much pretty simple and thinking I’ve got to play rugby tomorrow at 7:30pm,” he said.

“Yes, I made some awesome connections over the past 10 years, but I’ll be bloody proud to wear a Reds jersey and get the job done.”