By Alex Mitchell in Canberra

Queensland might have suffered a shock loss last time out, but their upbeat captain doesn’t want them to veer too far from what they’ve been doing when they take on the ACT Brumbies.

In a blockbuster match-up of Australia’s two best Super Rugby Pacific teams, the fifth-ranked Reds could make a serious statement by beating the side that’s been the top local outfit for the past two seasons.

But preparations for Saturday’s blockbuster clash took a setback last weekend, the Reds slumping to a 40-31 defeat against the Western Force for their second loss of the season.

It hasn’t changed the message from the Reds’ top brass, skipper Tate McDermott imploring his side to embrace the battle against the ACT.

“The thing (coach) Les (Kiss) has been big on, we spoke about it on Monday and we’ve spoken about it every day, we’ve got to keep improving,” McDermott said.

“That’s what we’ve done this week. We were a little bit off on the weekend, but we don’t need to change stuff because what we’re doing is working.

“We’ve just got to keep getting better.”

And dealing with the rampaging Brumbies hasn’t always been the easiest thing for the Reds, who will be hoping their new-look approach under Kiss can help them go blow-for-blow with their rivals.

The ACT side smacked the Reds 52-24 at Suncorp Stadium last season, and McDermott noted they had expanded their attacking rugby even further in a 60-21 rout of Moana Pasifika last time out.

“We know the Brumbies are trying to evolve their game a little bit, and they’ve shown, particularly on the weekend, that they’re capable of scoring tries from anywhere, particularly with the calibre of backs they’ve got,” he said.

“They’ve always had a dominant forward pack, a well-drilled, well-coached forward pack as well.

“We’re expecting quite a bit of them, but we’re also expecting dangerous breaks, guys like Corey Toole, Tom Wright, those kinds of guys that we’ve got to be careful of because they’re class players.”