THE legendary rugby league coach, the late Jack Gibson, had the philosophy that a successful club on the field started at the front office.

In other words, if you have a stable, supportive, capable and forward-thinking management and board the platform was laid for success on the playing field.

The Brumbies’ management saga this year, while it may not have an immediate impact, has the potential to have ramifications in years to come if confidence is not restored in the organisation as quickly as possible.

In fact, I would go as far as to say the Brumbies need to return to the values that were set in place when the club started in 1996 when everybody was seemingly moving in the same direction, the team was embraced by Canberra and success followed.

The problems at the Brumbies could not have suddenly appeared overnight. They are likely to have evolved over time. I believe off the field they have lost their way in terms of connection with the community.

I have been a critic of the Jake White era despite his taking the side to the finals. However, to his credit, he moved to allocate players to club teams in Canberra after years of Brumbies’ players heading down the highway to play with Sydney clubs on Saturday afternoon, if they weren’t playing Super Rugby that weekend.

White’s style of rugby did little to encourage people to go along to games and, although we’ve seen some regenerated crowds out at Bruce, the trend continued downwards for some time. At least an attempt was made to reconnect with the local clubs. With so many registered players, it is a no brainer to do more to engage the clubs in the hope that they will support the Brumbies’ Super Rugby side.

It was a start, but there was still a perception of a lack of connection with the community. Whenever I spoke out about it, I was emailed a list of functions attended by the players.

There are plenty of people involved in the Brumbies’ organisation doing a great job to ensure things stay on track despite the turmoil going on behind the scenes. Coach Stephen Larkham has done a remarkable job to keep the team focused. This is a credit to him and his commitment to the side.

The problems are clearly not on the field. The team itself is a credit to the organisation, but I have been contacted numerous times over the past couple of years by people who felt they had lost a connection with the team.

In the early days, when going along to a Brumbies’ game there was a sense of unbridled joy as the team thrived off the community support. I hope we can bring back that feeling. The boys on the field are certainly working towards it.