Wallaby great Tim Horan says Reds powerbrokers must make a call on the future of coach Richard Graham within a fortnight after the Queenslanders slumped to their fourth defeat in five Super Rugby matches.

The injury-ravaged Reds simply didn't have the class or the cattle to match it with the polished Brumbies, who romped away with a 29-0 win at Suncorp Stadium to add to their 47-3 belting of their favourite Australian whipping boys in round one.

It was the first time the Reds had been held scoreless since 2006, which is saying something given the awful seasons they have turned in during that period.

The home side did their best to hang tough and trailed 10-0 at the break. It started to fall apart less than 10 minutes into the second when openside Liam Gill produced a bizarre suplex on Nic White that would have thrilled WWF legend Bret 'The Hitman' Hart but earned him a booking and a yellow card.

Brumbies prop Ben Alexander scooped up the ball and dived over for his second try - happy days in his Canberra pub The Dock, where it was drinks on the house - while the Brumbies moved in for the kill and put the Reds away with clinical ease.

It was pure coach-killing stuff from Gill, who should know much better and was cited for what Brumbies coach Steve Larkham described as a 'dangerous, reckless' incident.

Graham cut a forlorn figure after the match and conceded he had little idea what Gill, the former Wallaby flanker, was trying to achieve.

"It doesn't help, does it. I don't know what he was attempting to do. I could see White over the ball. It was probably not the cleanest of clearouts, maybe something from WWE," Graham said.

Horan, a Queensland great who was capped 119 times for the Reds, said QRU bosses Jim Carmichael and Rod McCall must put an end to whisper campaign and either back Graham until the end of the season or usher in change.

"They'll have to make a decision whether to back him until the end of the year," Horan told Fox Sports, saying they needed to make a public statement before the Reds return from their bye to host the Lions.

The problems for the Reds are too plentiful to count. They had more sting in their defence against the Brumbies then they did against the Tahs but have still only managed three tries this season, plus a penalty try against the Western Force.

Five-eighth Nick Frisby tried and tried against the Brumbies but has limited skills as a number 10, although few could knock his intent given he's a career halfback. He was better than he was against the Waratahs, at the very least.

Captain James Slipper shouldn't have been playing given his neck injury but so short are the Reds of players that he had little choice but to soldier onwards. Given the Brumbies attack on the Queensland set piece, it was lucky he played through the pain.

Graham expects seven players back against the Lions, which only illustrates the depth of the injury crisis that has seen him resort to his fourth-string option in some positions.

More than 600 Super Rugby caps are parked on the sideline, with James O'Connor, Quade Cooper, Karmichael Hunt, Ben Daley, Greg Holmes, Rob Simmons, Samu Kerevi, Ed Quirk, Beau Robinson, JJ Taulagi, Lachie Turner and Hendrik Tui all unavailable.

Of that group, at least seven would be inclusions in a full-strength best XV. Tui hasn't played given he arrived from Japan with an injury while Hunt continues to be stood down after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

Cooper has been the most glaring omission while O'Connor and Hunt, the two great off-season signings, have barely played a game.

The bye could have scarcely come quickly enough for Graham. Now the embattled coach must be given a vote of support from his employers and hope his returning cavalry lifts fortunes on the field.