Wallaby jersey is least of my fears: Stirling Mortlock

By Iain Payten May 15, 2009

STIRLING Mortlock baulks at using cliches, but as far as the Brumbies' finals hopes and his future as Wallabies captain go, there's one that neatly covers both.

Control the controllables.

The classic John Buchanan line about limiting focus to the task at hand is a mantra Mortlock will hold onto as the Brumbies tackle the Chiefs tonight in a bid to win a spot in the Super 14 playoffs.

With a bonus-point victory in the final round, the ACT outfit can leap into the top four. And with one more dominant performance, Mortlock has the chance to silence the doubters over his Test future and lock down his status as Wallabies captain.

There's a lot at stake, Mortlock admitted, but only one simple way to get all of the above - play good football.

"It is more about - and this is a cliche - but it is more about focusing on the job at hand," Mortlock said yesterday from Hamilton.

"There hasn't really been any mention for us of bonus points or anything like that. It is about playing our game well, and concentrating on the processes involved for us to be effective. The bonus points only arrive if you build that base."

Likewise gold jerseys, and in Mortlock's case, the role of leading the Wallabies.

The shuffling of Mortlock from centre to wing and back to centre with the Brumbies has been enough for some critics to suggest the 31-year-old is out of form and no longer an automatic Test selection.

Robbie Deans' standard comments that no player is guaranteed a Wallabies spot - including Mortlock - fuelled the fire.

But after a typical bull-at-a-gate performance last week against Auckland, Mortlock's desire was publicly praised by Deans, and barring misfortune he will be named as Wallabies captain in coming weeks.

For the veteran centre, though, Test speculation is far from his mind.

An uncontrollable.

"It is the same sort of thing, I guess, as bonus points this weekend," Mortlock said. "This time of year there is always going to be a bit of discussion about the Wallabies.

"But my attitude personally is the same as our group's. We have a game in front of us now and that's what we are totally focused on.

"If you do your job well, then those things follow down the track."

The Brumbies rallied bravely in the wake of Shawn Mackay's death, and have won five from six since their world was emotionally upended.

But the high-flying Chiefs represent their toughest rivals tonight. Mortlock rattles off their areas of strength: back three, centres, halves, back-row, tight five, defence, attack.

Match-breakers in wingers Lelia Masaga and Siti Sitivatu, probable All Blacks halves in Brendon Leonard and Stephen Donald and the massive Sione Lauaki at No. 8.

"They're a complete team who can burn you from anywhere, and at any time," he said.

So small focus is a necessity if a bonus point win is the end goal, Mortlock repeats.

The Brumbies took on the Highlanders in 2007 operating under the same mathematics.

"We had to win with a bonus-point to stay alive, and we got the bonus point with two minutes to go," he said. "We didn't get in the finals, but the last five or six weeks have pretty much been must-win and in most we've secured bonus points as well. It is something that's not foreign for us, which is a positive thing."

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...006067,00.html