Brumbies can Mad Monday festivities
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The ACT Brumbies have taken a tough stance against themselves, cancelling their traditional Mad Monday because they feel they have let the club and its fans down.
While still devastated at the 41-7 loss to the NSW Waratahs that ended their Super Rugby campaign, prop Ben Alexander vowed to ensure the Brumbies would not suffer another excruciating season next year.
The Brumbies arrived back in Canberra yesterday licking their wounds after being demolished by the Waratahs on Saturday night.
It ended what will go down as the Brumbies' worst season in the competition's history, finishing with four wins, one draw and 11 losses.
Most professional rugby union, rugby league and AFL teams have a Mad Monday celebration or commiseration regardless of where they finish on the ladder.
But instead of glossing over their disappointing 13th-placed finish and having a post-season get-together, the Brumbies opted to make sure the pain drives them to improve.
''This is the most successful Australian rugby organisation, the only Australian side to win a championship,'' Alexander said. ''Our predecessors did all the hard work, they won those championships and they had Mad Mondays.
''We tried hard, but at the end of the day we didn't do enough. As a group we don't deserve a Mad Monday. The Brumbies organisation has high expectations and we didn't meet them.
''It was a frustrating year and I can't imagine another year being like this ... every single person here tried their absolute hardest.
''But this is the first time the Brumbies haven't done a Mad Monday, we haven't earned it.''
The Brumbies struggled against a Waratahs outfit intent on booking itself a place in the Super Rugby finals.
Alexander said the lessons learned from a brutal year on the field would help the Brumbies to more success in the future.
But it won't be easy with a new coach and at least 11 players from the current squad leaving the club.
''I know I've learned a lot this year about what it takes to get better and everyone who has been through this will use it to get better,'' Alexander said. ''It wasn't through lack of effort this year ... when you win you gloss over the bad bits of your game but now everything is under the microscope.''
Some of the Brumbies will now turn their attention to the Wallabies' World Cup campaign.
Coach Robbie Deans will name his squad in the coming weeks and Alexander will almost certainly be included.
Brumbies captain Matt Giteau who will play in France next year will also be there after a standout year for the veteran playmaker.
ACT coach Tony Rea heaped praise on the 28-year-old after the toughest season of his career.
''I wish he'd walk out of the room so I could tell you what I really think about him, I've never seen anyone like him,'' Rea said.
''I know Australian rugby has got the impression that he's a grumpy fella and hard to get on with, I've coached him now for 14 weeks and he is that, but in all the right ways.
''He tests you, he challenges you, he pushes you and all that, and he's difficult at times because he wants to win and he keeps trying to compete ...You need competitors [like Giteau in the Wallabies]. You're going to need experience, you're going to need toughness, you're going to need that stuff.''
Giteau did everything he could to lift the Brumbies out of their slump.
At times Rea felt the team was giving him the ball too often and expecting him to create opportunities. But Giteau said he never sensed he was being lumped with extra pressure.
The veteran of 104 Super Rugby games and 91 Tests said the Brumbies could turn it around under Jake White next year.
'When the team's going poorly, you want to do more,'' Giteau said.
''... Looking at leadership [for next year], you've still got Stephen Hoiles there, who has been captain of the Brumbies for three or four years. And I thought Stephen Moore this year has been really good.''
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news...px?storypage=0
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