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Hulking Queensland prop Massimo de Lutiis has vowed to cast aside a season plagued by a wrist injury to mount his case to add a maiden Wallabies cap to his 2025 resume.
The 21-year-old, who was ushered into an Australian camp at the start of the year before making his Super Rugby debut, had impressed with his strength in the scrum and deceptive speed, before an innocuous incident in May ended his campaign.
As frustrating as the ordeal was – particularly given his last serious injury, a quad issue, enabled him to work on his upper body and set a bench press record of 202.5 kilograms across all Queensland football codes – de Lutiis hinted he would be a more damaging prospect on his return.
Massimo De Lutiis had been earmarked for Wallabies honours since before his Super Rugby debut.Credit: Reds Media
“I was tackling at the line, picking and driving in the Brumbies game, and [my wrist] just got caught in a weird position. It bent back and dislocated,” de Lutiis recalled.
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“I tore the ligaments inside and everything, I did a pretty good job on it. [But] when you get an upper body injury, the best thing you can do is work on your lower body, so I got into the squats really quickly.
“The physio’s been getting the speed into me [as well], so we’ll see how that goes. We’ve got plenty of resources here; we’ve got [psychologist] Hayley [Cronin], and then many of the older boys have been through this stuff.
“They help you along the way, tell you how to do things and how to get your head right with it all.”
The 126-kilogram powerhouse will make his comeback at the launch of the Reds’ Super Rugby Australia tilt, ironically taking on the Brumbies again at Ballymore.
His setback deprived him of the chance to push for a place in the national squad to take on the British and Irish Lions, but he plans to use the forthcoming competition to push for a spot in the end-of-year Spring Tour.
De Lutiis was euphoric when Wallabies skipper and Reds teammate Harry Wilson made the bold call to deny penalty goal attempts against Argentina in Townsville on Saturday to tie the game, instead opting to trust his side to seal the win, which they did – five minutes after the full-time siren.
“That’s Reds all over,” de Lutiis laughed, “[Wilson] was firing the boys up and confident with his decisions, so I was screaming at the TV, ‘let’s go Wilso’.”
He said Wilson had become his key mentor in Brisbane, and witnessing him galvanise a country had only fuelled de Lutiis’s desire to reach the international stage this year.
“He really takes you under his wing, especially if you’re not sure with something, or you’re a bit nervous going into something. He really sits down with you, tells you it’s going to be sweet and explains everything,” de Lutiis said.
“Obviously, the Wallabies is on the radar, and these are the games to prove myself. I’m going to be putting my hat in the ring for that.”
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