Reds coach Ewen McKenzie has revealed he treated teenage sensation Luke Morahan mean to get full value from his match-winning talent.

Morahan's sheer pace and assured play in his first start at fullback were key ingredients in Queensland's shock 23-18 Super 14 victory over the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday night.

But the 2009 Wallabies tourist, surprisingly snubbed by McKenzie for the first three rounds in favour of bolter Rod Davies on the wing, only gained the No.15 jersey following a finger injury to Peter Hynes.

The new Queensland coach sung Morahan's praises after the 19-year-old former sevens star responded to the tough love approach.

"There was never any doubt about Luke being a great player, (but) just being honest about who was playing well at the time when we made the selections we had to be true to performance," McKenzie said.

"We had a lot of discussions through the trials and he was giving us some of the things we wanted but not everything, and he knuckled down and had a great performance.

"Sometimes when you treat people a little meaner they realise what they have to do and knuckle down."

McKenzie described Morahan's long-range 63rd-minute try, when he gave up a huge start to scorch five rivals and pounce on a Daniel Braid kick through to put the Reds in the lead, as freakish and demoralising to the home side.

"It's not just hard throwing him in there but throwing him at fullback and he didn't make a mistake and obviously that try was a great one," he said.

"He made the most of the opportunity in a difficult game."

McKenzie now has the huge scalps of the Crusaders and Chiefs on his 2010 belt for the Reds to be the surprise-packets of the Super 14 with a 2-2 record.

Down 15-0 after 20 minutes, Queensland played a superb tactical game by keeping the ball tight and recycling possession around the fringes of the ruck and starving the Chiefs dynamic backline of possession.

"We were playing a percentage game really, we were never going to win a seven-a-side comp against those guys," McKenzie said.

The entire Reds pack stood up, most particularly Braid who relished opposing his younger brother Luke and playing in front of 50 family members at Waikato Stadium.

Queensland, pipped on the bell against NSW in round one, still had their shaky moments in the last 10 minutes as league recruit Will Chambers made three errors, including bombing a match-sealing try.

"No doubt if we lost another one it would have been mentally challenging," McKenzie admitted.

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