Reds' bench blamed for defeats
The Reds' only victory this season was a narrow 28-27 win against the Highlanders in Round Seven and Slipper has admitted that their subpar performances are just not cutting it, urging his replacements to step and and help close out a match.
"We're looking to improve this weekend and get a win at Suncorp infront of our fans," said Slipper.
"We'd play good rugby for the first 60 and lose cohesion when the bench comes on.
"We'll be looking for more of an impact when our bench comes on and to finish strong instead of falling off.
"It's all about results, it's always about wins and losses and we haven't been good enough.
The Brisbane-based side came close to bagging a win against the Blues in Round Four, but the Auckland team snatched a late draw through an Ihaia West penalty.
Last week, co-coaches Nick Stiles and Matt O'Connor's charges suffered a 22-40 defeat to the Stormers at Newlands in Round Nine, one week after bowing down 22-41 to the Bulls at Loftus.
"We've had a tough tour to Africa and we should've won at least one of those games," Slipper lamented.
"We've found out a lot about ourselves and we just want to come out infront of our fans and give them the performane they deserve, so we're pretty excited about the prospect of being back here at Suncorp against the Cheetahs."
The Reds have even started implenting simulating match training aimed at creating scenarios during training that are similar to game-time situations to help them hold off an opponent's comeback.
"We've been working hard at training and we're really trying to hit the aim with our performances," said the 26-year-old leader.
"We've done simulation training quite a few weeks now where the coach would say 'okay guys, let's wrap it up in 10 minutes'."
Slipper also said that the fact that the Cheetahs have never won at Suncorp gives them a sense of assurance, but the Wallabies prop isn't going into the Round 10 fixture overflowing with confidence.
"I think in this competition you can't take any team likely," said Slipper.
"I've played against them numerous times and they're a very, very classy outfit.
"They're very powerful upfront and I think they've improved this year as well, they've got very quick speedsters who can score tries from anywhere on the field, so it sets up to be a good game.
"For us it's important because we're playing at home against a touring side that play good rugby and we've got to be prepared foor that. We have full respect for the opposition."