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Canberra Today 25°/28° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Brumbies: hope for the best!

Matt Giteau… did all he could to lift the team but, it wasn’t easy with slow ball.
Matt Giteau… did all he could to lift the team but, it wasn’t easy with slow ball.
Eleven losses in 16 games; this year was the Brumbies annus horribilis, the worst in the club’s history, writes TIM GAVEL

I HAVE been asked consistently over the past month whether the Brumbies will be conducting an independent review of the past season, but given 12 players and the bulk of the coaching staff are departing, I wonder the worth of any review.

In many respects, there is sense that it’s a new club and, as supporters, we need to put our faith in new coach Jake White and hope for the best.
From the outside you can question tactics such as why props end up on the wing in attack or why the Brumbies kept getting pushed off the ball at the breakdown or why the ball was coming out so slowly from the ruck allowing opposition defences to form or why the Brumbies lost to the Lions 29-20 in round 13 at Canberra Stadium, only to beat the top side Queensland 22-14 in round 16, away from home?

I had reservations over the past three years as to whether they were doing enough physical contact at training; I was told the players didn’t want to suffer injuries at training and they were as hard and tough as any other team in the Super 15. I had my doubts; they were getting punished physically.
After the loss to the Lions, Tony Rea had obviously come to the same conclusion.
There were some exceptions: Stephen Moore at hooker; Matt Giteau did all he could to lift the team, but it wasn’t easy with slow ball; Pat McCabe was a revelation at inside centre; and Mitchell Chapman put his body on the line. Sadly four players don’t make a team.

Why did it go so horribly wrong? Some point to the sacking of coach Andy Friend and injuries to key players, coupled with a lack of form, while others believe there was a lack of passion in the playing ranks. Was there a problem with players having an over-inflated opinion of their own abilities?
I stated during the year that I felt some players were not as committed as they should be to the Canberra community. I could be misguided, but it is something I feel strongly about and campaigned on this issue through the season. Given we are starting afresh, why not reinforce this message to the new players?

If you sign a contract with the Brumbies, you live in Canberra throughout the year and if you are not playing for the Brumbies on any given weekend you turn out for the local teams, not hightail it to Sydney.
Surely, if they were playing in Canberra it would forge a closer alliance with the local rugby community and strengthen the bond with the wider Canberra community.

This has been one of the hardest of  my 22 years as a sports commentator in Canberra. There was, at times, a fractious relationship between the team and the media; I wasn’t sure where I stood with one player and it became harder than it should have been.
It was easier in 2004 because the team was winning; 2012 brings new hope, and I have always believed that you support your team, through the highs and lows.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Tim Gavel

Tim Gavel

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