AJ is talking about the 777 with some 787 technology. This allows him to put off making a decision on the 777 for several more years.
Your old friends at Emirates are asking their mates at Boeing to come up with a NG version of the 777 - with a big improvement on payload/ange. If Boeing does come up with this plane, this is the one that might interest Qantas, not the current 777-300ER. Emirates want their planes to carry best possible payload on routes like Dubai to San Francisco/Los Angeles, and improved payload would be handy for routes like Dubai to East Coast Australia (when they are not using A380s)
The 777 NG could be the plane for Sydney to Dallas and return, if Qantas is still operaing that in 2016.