Rising Wallabies playmakers Quade Cooper and Berrick Barnes could switch Queensland backline positions in the must-win Super 14 clash with the unbeaten Sharks on Saturday night.

Reds coach Phil Mooney may play a wildcard at Suncorp Stadium in what he agreed was a "massive" clash for his young, under-strength outfit, which sits in 10th place.

Five-eighth Cooper has been among Queensland's best players in the opening four rounds, highlighted by his superb first-half showing against NSW last weekend.

But as the Waratahs started to smash the injury-affected Reds pack in the set-piece battle after the break, Cooper struggled with his kicking game.

The call went out for inside centre Barnes to swap positions with the No.10 to steady the play and add a punchier, more direct game but the instructions weren't received by either player.

Mooney has unsurprisingly stuck with Cooper at first receiver, inside Barnes, to meet the third-placed South Africans but conceded he could well tinker with the pair through the match as they directly oppose Springboks Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn.

"We actually wanted to (against NSW), and for one reason or another it didn't occur," Mooney said. "That's always an option we've got with the flexibility of the two of them.

"Last week I think there was an opportunity for Berrick to go into first receiver and be a bit more direct with our play.

"It gets Berrick more involved in the game and it also means Quade can be a bit more of a threat a little wider."

Although he wears No.12 these days, Mooney still believes Barnes, 22, might have his nose in front of Cooper, 20, as a prospective Wallabies five-eighth if Matt Giteau was unavailable.

The Sharks clash is set to mark Barnes' last as captain with Wallabies lock James Horwill set to regain the duties when he returns from a foot injury after next week's bye.

The Reds hope Horwill will also be joined by fellow tight-five figures Greg Holmes and Van Humphries, whose shoulder injuries have put further heat on Queensland's pack.

Twenty-year-old prop Ben Daley will make his starting debut opposing Springboks skipper John Smit, who will pack down at tight-head.

"There's no bigger challenge than playing the Springbok front-row," Mooney said. "But Ben's highly competitive, he's not daunted and he won't be backing down."

The bare 1-3 win-loss record doesn't show the improvements the free-wheeling Reds have made in 2009, but their for-and-against of minus-one (77-78) is the sixth best in the competition.

As much as anything, though, it highlights their inability to close out tight games.

"It is frustrating," Mooney said. "We've certainly made advances but we have to be better doing the little things well."

Barnes praised the effort but demanded pressure be converted into points.

"If we're fair dinkum in this comp we have to knock off one of the big scalps and you can get no bigger than the Sharks," he said.

"It's just getting over the line for one of those wins is going to be the key. It's converting that pressure in the second half.

"We need to put the screws on. That's what the good teams do and we haven't done that."

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