McKenzie keeps Brumbies guessing on team Queensland director of coaching Ewen McKenzie continued the niggle and mind games leading into Saturday night's Super Rugby opener against the Brumbies by opting against naming his starting team on Thursday. McKenzie announced a 23-man squad for the trip to Canberra in a move he conceded was designed to gain a tactical advantage by keeping an "air of mystery." Brumbies coach Jake White on Tuesday attacked the Reds for consistently playing mind games and accused McKenzie of a ruse after he ruled out captain James Horwill with an ankle injury. But Horwill was indeed left out of the 23-man squad to show the Queensland mentor wasn't foxing. Wallabies centre Anthony Faingaa has also been overlooked due to a hand injury. "I don't speak with fork tongues, we made (Horwill's unavailability) clear early on and Jake probably read a bit too much into it than what it was," McKenzie said. For those guys it is unfortunate but we wanted to make definite decisions early so we can prepare properly. The players know what's going and we don't think there's any rush to let the Brumbies know what we're going to do, and we'll announce our team sometime tomorrow. Queensland hold the Rod Macqueen Cup after winning both clashes with the Brumbies last season and McKenzie is unhappy his side has been installed as underdogs for the opening round encounter. Reds squad: Forwards - Nigel Ah Wong, Albert Anae, Jarrad Butler, Saia Faingaa, Liam Gill, James Hanson, Greg Holmes, Ed O'Donoghue, Eddie Quirk, Jake Schatz, Rob Simmons, James Slipper (capt), Adam Wallace-Harrison. Backs - Quade Cooper, Chris F'Sautia, Nick Frisby, Mike Harris, Digby Ioane, Jono Lance, Ben Lucas, Dom Shipperley, Ben Tapuai (vc), Aidan Toua.