One of the reasons QF always complains about not making money on routes that they only have rights to for 3-4 (CDG, ROM etc) times a week, is that a B744 is not economical.
Other airlines in Asia which also have access 3-4 times a week to these destinations, mainly use the B777 on these routes. These airlines are either bleeding cash, or because of the equipment they use it makes it economical for them.
I think the decision to not get the 777 for this type of thing has been a mistake on management's behalf for quite a while now. Instead they have shrunk QF and because they have been out of some markets for many years now, it may be hard to build that up again.