Melbourne Rebels recruit Taniela Tupou has challenged his former Queensland Reds teammates to put a target on his back in their first meeting since the prop made the move south.
Signed by the Reds in 2014 after making waves as a schoolboy in New Zealand, Tupou eventually made his Queensland debut in 2016. He soon became a mainstay of the Reds' front-row under longtime coach Brad Thorn, where he played a role in leading the side to a drought breaking title win claiming the Super Rugby AU championship in 2021.
But after nine years with the club, he shocked Australian rugby last year when he made the decision not to re-sign with the Reds and instead take his chances with the under-fire Rebels, where he linked up with several former Reds teammates in Sam Talakai, Alex Mafi and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.
Preparing for his first encounter with his former team on Friday night in Melbourne, Tupou told media he wasn't worried he could be targeted.
"Yeah, I mean, I'm expecting it," Tupou said. "If I'm playing this week, they might target me, but that doesn't really worry me.
"If they want to have a go at me, they can, I'm just going to focus on myself, focus on my team and what we need to do to get the win."
Currently sitting fourth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder after securing impressive comeback victories over the Western Force and Moana Pasifika over the last two rounds, the Rebels are preparing to take on a high-flying Reds side that managed to take down the tournament favourites Chiefs in stunning fashion on Saturday night.
"I watched the game. They're looking really good, man, really good," Tupou said of the Reds. "Seeing Les Kiss and all the coaching staff doing a really good job and the boys are playing really well and it's going to be a big challenge for us, but I know our boys are looking forward to it."
But while he's been impressed by his former side he's more excited with the efforts his current team has made to earn back-to-back victories and build their confidence and belief as a team.
"It's good to know that we as a team can do that and come from behind," Tupou said when asked about the side's ability to recover from slow starts. "Just knowing that we can, not try to do anything different, stick to our game plan, the simple things, and if we do that, then we get ourselves back into the game and come back and get in front.
"That happened in the last two games and going forward, if that happens to us, we know we can do it again. We haven't had the best start yet so that's something we've been working hard on and hopefully we can fix that, so we don't have to come back from behind, we can just stay in front and keep staying in front till the end of the game."
Battling with Talakai for the starting tight-head role, Tupou has started on the bench twice so far this season including in last week's win which saw the 51-cap Wallaby demolish Pasifika's scrum, and he said he's happy to keep the finishing role if it helps his team continue to secure wins.
"Sammy's [Talakai] been playing really well and for me to get a starting spot you have to perform, I think we're just doing whatever it takes for us to win, putting the best team out there. I think Sam's been performing really well and deserves to be there, and if me being on the bench will help us win, I'm happy to do that, and if Sammy starting is the best thing for us, so be it.
"At the moment I'm just trying to work on my game and obviously it's a different team, so trying to fit in there. But things are going really well, and the win last week was really good for us, we needed that win, we knew it was going to be tough going in New Zealand and playing the Pasifika boys, big boys, but we got the win and the bonus point so now we're all focused on the Reds."
While there's plenty of excitement playing his former teammates, the 27-year-old admits there's just as much trepidation facing his mates.
"For myself I find it hard to come up against guys that I've known for a long time, or my mates, but again I leave everything off the field when I get on the field and if I have to make them hurt to get a win, then I have to do it," Tupou said.
"But it's something I've struggle with in the past and I think I've got better over time.
"Honestly, we're [Talakai, Mafi Salakaia-Loto] looking forward to the game on Friday. It'll be good to go up against some of our mates from the Reds, but my main focus is on us, trying to see what we can do to make our team play well on Friday."