Good things do come to those who wait ... and believe.

Stalwart forwards James Horwill and Greg Holmes have weathered the Reds' darkest days, seeing plenty of success-starved good mates depart in despair, but are reaping the rewards for their loyalty.

Queenslanders through and through, the pair never considered leaving Ballymore and their faith has paid off with the Reds one win away from hosting next week's Super Rugby decider.

But neither are satisfied with topping the regular season standings to start a home semi-final against the Blues on Saturday night - they're desperate for their young team to seize the day with a remarkable maiden title.

Skipper Horwill made his debut in 2006, a year after prop Holmes, in the midst of a six-season run where Queensland were entrenched in the bottom three on the ladder.

"It's never fun but we had the belief that we could get to where we wanted to go and a lot of hard work's been put in to that, so we're happy with where we are, but we're not finished yet," Horwill, 26, told AAP.

"We're a good side and we've got to where we are by playing some consistently good football, so we need to go on with it now."

A measure of how many players have left the Reds is that Holmes, Horwill and injured winger Peter Hynes are the only contracted players remaining from the 2006 squad.

A year later, under former Wallabies' coach Eddie Jones, Queensland picked up the wooden spoon and were humiliated 92-3 by the Bulls in Pretoria in the worst loss in the competition's history.

Horwill and Holmes emerged alongside the likes of Stephen Moore (Brumbies), Berrick Barnes (Waratahs), Mitch Chapman (Brumbies), Hugh McMeniman (Japan) and Ben Mowen (Waratahs), who the Reds tried to keep but failed.

"I've obviously seen a lot of people come and go, a lot of them were my good mates," said 28-year-old Holmes, the Reds most experienced current player with 68 caps.

"Come contract time and all these people were leaving, I thought 'gee is it the right time to go?', but I stuck to my guns and I never wanted to leave Queensland.

"Now we've had some good years and, hopefully, we finish this year with a premiership, and there will be a few guys who wished they would have stayed."

Horwill, made captain at 22 by Phil Mooney in 2008, said he never entertained thoughts of leaving for greener pastures, despite admitting others joined the exodus for "valid reasons".

"I always thought we'd started something here and I wanted to finish it the right way," he said.

"I wanted to be loyal to the state that gave me my chance and I'm a Queensland boy through and through."

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