Wallabies great Hooper raves about the Reds enforcer ‘doing a lot right’

Wallabies great Michael Hooper has highlighted the “brilliant form” Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has been in for the Queensland Reds, after the hulking second-rower produced a standout performance against the ACT Brumbies on Saturday.

Salakaia-Loto crashed over for a first-half try as the Queenslanders clawed their way back from an early deficit at Suncorp Stadium. The accurate goal-kicking boot of Harry McLaughlin-Phillips ultimately proved key as the Reds hung on for a 30-21 win.

The 29-year-old second-rower finished in double digits for completed tackles with 14, and carried the ball six times. In the first half, Salakaia-Loto set the tone at the set-piece by winning a lineout with a one-handed take.

Salakaia-Loto has started in all 10 appearances for the Reds this season, including a mammoth 89-minute shift in a Super Point defeat to the Blues in Christchurch. The lock has played at least 80 minutes in six matches, playing the full match in the last five.

“Brilliant form and big minutes, big minutes for a 122 [kilogram] lock, 80 minutes week to week pretty much at the moment,” Hooper said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.

“He’s doing the little things really well and then his metres and carries, he’s doing the hard carries and obviously getting the try there for the reward.

“He’s doing a lot right at the moment.”

Salakaia-Loto missed out on Wallabies selection for the 2025 three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions, instead facing the tourists in three other jerseys. The tight five forward suited up for the Reds, the AUNZ Invitational XV and the First Nations & Pasifika XV against the Lions.

Coach Joe Schmidt would later recalled Salakaia-Loto for a Rugby Championship clash with Los Pumas, playing 28 minutes off the pine. Salakaia-Loto featured in four Tests across the season, lining up against the All Blacks, Brave Blossoms and England.

“He was in the frame, I thought, last year during the Lions Series and I beat that drum a fair bit, I was really liking what he was bringing in those games,” Hooper added.

“Obviously have Will Skelton, had some of the others in the Aussie Test team that proved their point of difference, but the Wallabies need someone like that. Without Will Skelton, Lukhan is doing a lot of the nitty gritty work, yes some nice ball carries, but hitting guys at rucks.

“The best cleanout of the weekend was [Miles] Amatosero on [Dylan] Pietsch… that’s what Lukhan has been doing a lot this year and that sometimes flies under the radar.”

As Hooper explained, the Reds have a “tricky run home” in the regular season. Queensland host the high-flying Chiefs in Brisbane this week, before back-to-back road trips deep in the round-robin, which includes a fixture across the ditch.

The Reds will be out for revenge when they visit Perth for a match against the Western Force on May 16, who claimed an upset win in Brisbane last month. Queensland then travel to Auckland to face Moana Pasifika before their regular season finale at home against the Fijian Drua.