CONSIDERING the heartbreak the Suncorp Stadium crowd has suffered during recent Super 14 seasons, they proved they still had a sense of humour when they began chanting "we want 92!" on Saturday night.

The Reds' home crowd appeared as staggered as their players by an extraordinary turnaround - just 10 months after experiencing a 92-3 annihilation by the Bulls in Pretoria, they were suddenly thrashing the 2007 champions.

In the end it was a 121-point turnaround, and with it a belief that the new Reds coach Phil Mooney may be able to get value out of what has for some time been a rabble.

Not surprisingly the transformation required drastic measures. In the lead-up to the match, the Reds captaincy was passed from a devastated John Roe to Sam Cordingley. Seven positional changes were made. Established players such as flanker David Croft were demoted and newcomers such as inside centre Charlie Fetoai promoted.

Quite a few of the faces were different, but what had returned was traditional Queensland spirit. Even more importantly two of their key players found form. Test fullback Chris Latham was back to his frenetic best, attacking from every area of the field. Such was his enthusiasm he was sin-binned for 10 minutes by referee Lyndon Bray for a trifling stamping incident.

Like Latham, new skipper Cordingley had been quiet this season, but his authority and poise around the tackle and scrum provided the Reds with the necessary direction that had been lacking for some time.

It was also clear five-eighth Quade Cooper had matured considerably after his erratic first season in Super 14 last year, when the pressure clearly troubled him. Against the Bulls he was not daunted by the loss of the Reds' prime playmaker, Berrick Barnes, just before the game. Cooper simply rose in stature, with a sometimes understated passing and kicking game working well.

Barnes, who missed the match because of a calf strain, last night was included in the 26-man squad for the three-match tour of South Africa.

■ The Western Force are delighted that their fitness enabled them to score their first win in New Zealand by defeating the Auckland Blues in Albany on Saturday.

The Force produced 10 minutes of excellent football in the second half to eclipse the Blues, who were clearly hampered after losing chief playmaker Nick Evans after 30 minutes and endured the departure of Joe Rokocoko after half-time. The Force timed their revival perfectly, scoring tries in the 63rd and 70th minutes to keep them in Super 14 finals contention.

It was some reward for their improved showing the week before against the Crusaders in Perth where, despite their endeavours, they came up short.

In Perth, the Force matched the Crusaders in perhaps the best Super 14 match so far this season, and produced an exhilarating effort that would have been good enough to beat any other team in the tournament.

In Albany, the Force stuttered at times, and appeared out of rhythm for considerable stretches - but still ended up with the points.