They've got a very good tactical appreciation of the kicking game, they can play with width and I thought their mauling game (last week) was outstanding.

If you watch [the Cats] closely, there's more variety in how they play. In terms of the South African teams, they're one of the few sides that, for instance, kick off to different areas. They don't have some of the predictable aspects of some of the other teams ..w. And he [Rose] adds a bit of spark, and he's played that five-eighth role, so it won't be foreign to him. Certainly he looks to be a little bit different to the guy he's replaced, so in that sense there's a little less predictability there.

There's no question that it would be an advantage, if you're going to play England pretty much two weeks after Super 14 finishes, if there are some combinations there it might be an advantage, particularly in that short term where you're trying to bring something together quickly. But I'm not sure what combinations you've got. Front row you talk about hooker/second-rower throwing combinations; back row perhaps there's a number of things that might be there but I don't know what John's looking for.

I felt my first year we definitely suffered when he wasn't available [through injury] and I think the wins and losses probably proved that. I think we took a step forward last year and we've continued to recruit to make sure we're not solely reliant on one player in any position. So I'll just use these next couple of games to have a look at the options.

They're using him for a campaign, which I find amusing because he's obviously not there and that's the best they can come up with. I'd prefer Wendell to be focused on what we're doing and have spoken to him about letting Queensland do what they want to do.

If we all did that, then there'd be no development of players and it would shrink the game.