Tuttle keen to commit long term

Tue, Mar 6, 2018, 8:04 AM
Sam Phillips
by Sam Phillips
On the back of tenacious defending by the hosts the Reds upset the Brumbies 18 - 10.

Reds halfback James Tuttle insists he wants his future to be at Ballymore, despite only adding one year to his current deal.

Tuttle re-signed with the Reds on Tuesday, having established himself as Queensland's primary option at halfback over the course of the past two seasons.

But as a rising star as just a 21-year-old, the length of the deal seemed a touch peculiar.

Tuttle told RUGBY.com.au there was nothing sinister in that, though, with his future firmly set in Queensland.

"We just thought at this stage that it was the best thing to do," he said.


"Obviously there is opportunity to continue to stay here as well.

"I'm pretty happy with the one year and hopefully I can continue to stay after that - I would love to stay here as long as possible."

Now his future is guaranteed for another year, Tuttle has his mind set on producing the kind of rugby that pushes Queensland back up the Australian Conference ladder.

"I have a lot of unfinished business here and I want to see this place improve," he said.

"I want to get it back to where Queensland rugby should be."

Should that lead to Wallabies honours, so be it, but that isn't a focus for the former Australian U20s skipper.


"If you're playing for your state and your Super side you obviously have aspirations to play for the Wallabies if you haven't already," Tuttle said.

"If you ask any player I'd think you'd get the same answer - they'd all say they'd love to wear that gold jersey down the track one day.

"At this stage I'm just focused on trying to get some wins on the board, here.

"If sides are playing pretty good footy then your name is going to be tossed up for selection in things like that.

"At the forefront of my mind is playing good footy here for Queensland and I'm not too focused on that sort of stuff.

"If it happens, it happens."

The Reds take on the Bulls at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, kicking off at 7:45pm AEDT, broadcast LIVE on FOX SPORTS and RUGBY.com.au radio.
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