Adam Thomson offers the Reds an extra ball-running option up front © Getty Images

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Much has been made of Queensland Reds' backline recruits James O'Connor and Karmichael Hunt , but veteran New Zealand flanker Adam Thomson may prove to be the franchise's most important acquisition of all.

O'Connor and Hunt have generated plenty of interest and anticipation for next season, but the star duo will have no impact on one of the Reds' problem areas of 2014 - a lack of power up front. And if they're to exhibit any of the talent that made them household names in Australian sport it'll probably be down to a "fresh" Thomson, who returns to Super Rugby after two seasons in Japan. Certainly the Reds hope he can match the impact Jacques Potgieter had on the Waratahs after joining from Japan and inspiring a the Super Rugby-winning campaign.

"I guess when I left New Zealand I was pretty beat up," Thomson said from Japan, where he plays for Canon Eagles. "I'd been playing Super Rugby for a number of years and playing with the Highlanders, which is a pretty brutal outfit, and then Test rugby on top of that; so the body was worn down and I guess, mentally, doing the same thing over and over, was the same situation.

"So to come to Japan was a change of environment, to freshen me up and to play a different style of rugby. And to have a five-month pre-season was massive, to be in gym and to be able to get the body right and just physically training for five months before you play rugby is massive. I think we get six weeks back home [in New Zealand] so there's a big difference."

Adam Thomson forged a reputation as being one of the hardest-working back-rowers in Super Rugby in a 68-game stint with the Highlanders. One of his biggest assets is his creativity, a trait he recognises in his soon-to-be Reds team-mates.

"I don't know the guys intimately but obviously there's talent there," Thomson said. "And they've achieved recently as well - they've won a title [2011] - so they know how to do it and I think there's a good core leadership group there, which is key.

"And there's obviously game-breakers; there's stars of talent who can get the job done. So I guess that's the building blocks of a team and I guess if you can get that together and get them playing as a team and, like I said earlier, working towards the same goal then we're starting to do stuff."

One game already marked on Thomson's calendar is the round-three clash with the Highlanders, when he'll return to Dunedin and face his former team-mates at Forsyth Barr Stadium. The 32-year-old 29-Test All Blacks forward said he was prepared for plenty of special attention.

"I have actually [spoken with former Highlanders team-mates]; they're a pretty ruthless outfit, the Highlanders, so they won't forget. I'll always be a Highlander; they were the first team I played for and, actually, the only team I've played for in New Zealand, so they'll always hold a special place in my heart. But that chapter's closed and I felt that it was time for something different … hopefully I won't get beaten up too much."

Thomson will join the Reds after his contract with Canon Eagles finishes in February.