"Springbok's son" - Wallabies U20s star eager to bolster Reds' halfback ranks for Super Rugby 2026

The Queensland Reds named their halfbacks for the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season back in November 2025, naming Tate McDermott, Kalani Thomas and Louis Werchon to play. However, McDermott suffered a significant hamstring injury in September 2025 during the Bledisloe Cup.

Martens joins the 2026 team off the back of his debut for the Reds at the end of 2025 and has previously represented Australia at the under-20s level. He is the son of Hentie Martens, who was a scrum half for the Springboks in 1993. Martens said his dad has helped him develop his skills in key areas, such as finding space and thinking about different types of gameplay. “It just helps having him in my corner,” Martens said.

“He’s got the physical capacity to step into that space [number 9] for sure,” said head coach Les Kiss when asked about Martens. The new arrival said he plans to base his play in 2026 on whatever the coach wants, depending on the team and the game. “Work hard, train hard and whatever happens, happens,” he added.

The 20-year-old said that the Reds is a great place to develop as a half back with players like Kalani Thomas and Tane McDermott to learn from. “I wouldn’t want to run away from it,” said Martens when asked about the competition for the number 9 jersey.

Also hoping to learn more from Thomas and McDermott in the upcoming season is Louis Werchon. “They’re two world-class 9’s,” said Werchon, “they’re two wallabies, and I hope to be a third Wallaby further down the track.” He added that he is good mates with his teammates, which gives him an excellent opportunity to learn from them.

Werchon made his Reds debut in 2022. He is set to join Benneton Rugby on a two-year contract at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season as part of the partnership the Reds have with Benneton. The 23-year-old previously completed a six-month stint at Benneton during a secondment and played in Europe’s United Rugby Championship.

“Very excited,” said Werchon when asked about his feelings towards his upcoming move. “The people are so friendly over there, and they’re so welcoming,” he added, “there's a lot of foreigners at Benetton, which I was really surprised about when I first got there, and then I got to become mates with a lot of them, so it's very exciting.”

He said that it is a completely different game over in Europe and that his experience with Benetton improved his box kicking and his game generally. Werchon could return to the Reds at the end of the two-year partnership.

When asked about this, he said: “I'm a Queenslander through and through, and I love the Reds, I love the lads here and the whole organisation. It's been my club growing up since I was young, since I found out about rugby. "I'd love to come back,” he added, but said that he’ll have to see what happens.