Braid is the latest Kiwi star to cross the Tasman to Australia © Getty Images

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News: Braid set for Reds switch

Players/Officials: Dan Braid

Teams: Australia | New Zealand | Queensland Reds

Reds recruit Daniel Braid is keen to lead the youthful Queensland squad by example - which is one of the reasons coach Phil Mooney wanted to sign the All Black flanker for 2009.

Mooney said the character of his players is as important to the squad as their football ability and Braid earned high marks on both counts from his former Auckland Blues coach David Nucifora, now Australian Rugby's High Performance General Manager.

"Football skill is important but the quality of the person and what they can offer to our program is vital as well. David spoke very highly of Daniel in terms of his leadership qualities and with a young group it was important that we sign a player with those qualities."

Braid said he "definitely" wanted to help with the leadership of the team, which he said is on the way up, with an exciting batch of talented young players.

"I've just finished a season with a very young Auckland side and I've got experience of how to motivate and relate to young guys and how to impart the knowledge that I've got onto them," Braid told a Ballymore news conference today.

Braid is the first "marquee" player to be recruited by an Australian Super 14 team since the ARU relaxed its rules on foreign player eligibility and Mooney said it was a policy change well worth making.

"The benefit that we derive from it is the fact that we've got a guy who's played internationally for another country (and) played very successfully in provincial programs. So what Daniel offers us with approaches to the game, his different experiences on and off the field, I think will be beneficial not just to the Reds but to the younger guys in the Academy who play in that position," Mooney said.

Braid was recruited to the Reds following veteran flanker David Croft's surprise decision to retire from the professional game and Braid acknowledges they will be big shoes to fill.

"When you're playing against the Reds, he's (Croft) always the guy that you target first, you've got to take out. He put his body on the line every single game. I saw him after the game when the Blues played the Reds and he threw everything into that. His arm was in a sling, there was all ice there, his face was bashed up, had stitches. That's just the sort of guy he is," Braid said.

Braid has signed a one year deal with the QR Reds with an option for a second season.

He has played with the Auckland-based Blues since 2001 and earned 59 Super Rugby caps for the Blues in a total of 78 appearances for his province.

He is a member of the rare father and son All Black club and earned his fourth Test cap for New Zealand playing against Australia in Sydney this year.

Braid has captained New Zealand Secondary Schools and played for New Zealand under-19s, Colts and under-21s, making his Test debut in 2002 against Wales before playing his first Super Rugby match (v Waratahs 2003).