Poor old Queensland coach John Connolly just can't take a trick at the moment.

The Reds had enough ball to win two games against the Canterbury Crusaders in the Super 12 clash at Ballymore, but still remain winless after the 27-19 defeat.

And to make matters worse, fullback Chris Latham, easily one of the Queensland's best, could be out for the remainder of the season with a possible broken leg. Latham crashed heavily after stopping Canterbury replacement Marika Vunibaka from scoring a try on full-time and slammed into a PA speaker causing a deep gash in his lower leg.

Queensland cannot afford any more losses if they are to make the semi-finals, and unfortunately for Connolly, Latham's poor luck has added to a miserable run of injuries for the Reds.

"We just had to do the same things we did in the first half," Connolly said after the Reds went into the half-time break leading 16-3. "We played well, we tackled well and we played well enough to win the game ... that's the disappointing thing about it and the Latham situation just adds to it.

"I was pleased with the whole lot of the team. The momentum was there, there's no doubt about it."

Wallaby winger Ben Tune, who played at outside-centre with Daniel Herbert out injured, said the Reds paid dearly for a brief lapse in concentration.

"We really had that game won when we came out in the second half. It just took 10 minutes of falling asleep and it was gone.

"I was really looking forward to playing the centres and making a good go of it. But I had a quite game and really did not get the ball over the advantage line, which centres must do."