Mortlock to follow Gregan's example
Mortlock (possibly!) to follow Gregan's example
By Wayne Smith
October 23, 2008
GEORGE Gregan was first Stirling Mortlock's idol, then his mentor and now is set to become his role model, with Mortlock thinking seriously of following his former teammate's example of standing down as Brumbies captain while continuing to lead Australia.
Even with his thoughts dominated by the six-match Wallabies tour to Hong Kong and Europe starting on Monday, Mortlock joined his Brumbies teammates for their first assembly under new coach Andy Friend in Canberra on Wednesday, hinting for the first time that, like Gregan, the burden of captaining both club and nation was becoming too great.
"Certainly when it involves leadership at the Wallaby level and also at provincial level, there are a lot of time constraints," Mortlock said.
"I love coming down to Canberra and being part of this group. The Brumbies have been so instrumental in moulding me as a person and obvious as a rugby player, so it's a massive honour to be captain.
"Having said that, there is a time and a place for getting new blood in so we'll see how things pan out. I'm all about what's in the best interests of the team and the group, in particular making sure we are solid moving forward."
Mortlock intends discussing the captaincy with Friend following the Wallabies' return on December 6 but significantly the new Brumbies boss did not immediately kill off speculation of a change of leader.
"We're going to wait until Christmas and make some decisions after the Wallabies come back," Friend said.
If a change was to be made, almost certainly 28-year-old flanker George Smith, who has more Test caps than Mortlock - 92 to 71 - would be awarded the job, a stepping stone perhaps to him assuming the role for the Wallabies.
Gregan relinquished the ACT captaincy shortly after the 2003 World Cup final but remained unchallenged as Wallabies skipper until the end of the Eddie Jones era in November 2005.
He continued intermittently in the role under John Connolly until the end of the 2006 Tri-Nations, although Connolly ensured he equalled Will Carling's world captaincy record of 59 Tests by allowing him to lead the Wallabies against Fiji in last year's World Cup.
Like Gregan, Mortlock has travelled an often rocky road as captain. After succeeding him as Brumbies skipper in 2004, he had to navigate the ACT's clumsy mid-season sacking of coach David Nucifora but still managed to lead the side to the Super 14 title, even if injury forced him out of the final.
As Connolly's new captain in 2006, he came under fire for staying out late after the spring tour win over Italy and there was criticism of his leadership following the Wallabies' early exit from the World Cup, eliminated by an English side that totally outsmarted them.
This season has been more of a mixed bag for Mortlock. He was out injured when the Wallabies defeated New Zealand in Sydney in late July, but was back in the side when the All Blacks took theirs revenge in Auckland the following weekend.
Then, on successive Saturdays in South Africa, he experienced the high of defeating South Africa on their home soil for the first time since 2000, followed by the low of leading the Wallabies to their greatest ever defeat, 53-8, just seven days later in Johannesburg.
Yet in the midst of the rollercoaster campaign it went virtually unnoticed that Mortlock had leapfrogged Ken Catchpole, Tony Shaw, Michael Lynagh, John Thornett, Greg Davis and Andrew Slack to now stand fourth on the table of Wallaby captains with 20 Tests as skipper, trailing only Gregan (59), John Eales (55) and Nick Farr-Jones (36).
Now 31, Mortlock is no certainty to overtake any one on that list now. Even though he is still recognised as the best outside centre in world, Mortlock would be 34 by the time the next World Cup rolls around in 2011.
Whoever is earmarked to lead Australia's next campaign for the Webb Ellis Cup, be it Mortlock, Smith, Matt Giteau or even impressive young Queensland skipper James Horwill, they would need to be at the helm no later than the start of the 2010 season.
It could even be that Mortlock takes another leaf out of Gregan's book and plays in the 2011 World Cup, but not as captain.
