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RATHBONE: The Super challenge of winning away

19th April, 2012
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Brumbies player Stephen Moore is tackled. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Expert
19th April, 2012
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One of my favourite memories with the Brumbies involved singing the team song after we managed to defeat the Bulls at Loftus in 2006.

That change room was on fire!

Jeremy Paul fired up the stereo, players shouted out all kinds of over-the-top celebratory gibberish, there were man hugs, bum pats, and high fives all around.

Laurie Fisher, usually shy, reserved and controlled, was transformed to into an animated mad scientist rock star.

It was awesome.

Somebody forgot to tell us that we were but two matches into the season, though at the time I doubt we would have cared.

All we knew was that we had come to Loftus and left with points, very valuable “on the road” points.

Fast forward 6 years and it’s the Brumbies version 2012 that will confront the enormous task of winning in South Africa’s capital.

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A Brumby win would be an upset, but if this season has proven anything, it’s that the competition has never been more tightly contested.

The cliché that anyone can win on “their day” has never rung more true. Dare to have a bad day at the office in 2012 and you lose.

It’s become that simple.

One of the more interesting aspects of Super rugby has been the win/loss disparity between home and away records.

Travelling and winning in this competition is bloody difficult. Few teams have been able to do it consistently and it appears to be getting tougher still.

Why is this so?

Many have hypothesised that it’s the physical impact of long-distance travel that most impacts a team. Others have put that it’s the mental disruption of being placed in unfamiliar and often hostile territory that affects players.

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Jetlag, “strange” food, annoying roommates and altitude aside, I can’t help but feel as though most teams under preform on the road because they expect to.

When we’re told a million reasons why we cannot do something, it’s very easy to subconsciously fuse with that idea, for it to become “true” before it is.

This is exactly how self-fulfilling prophecies are born.

Many coaches and players have tackled this problem by ignoring it. As if somehow refusing to acknowledge the challenge of travel diminishes its impact.

I believe this is the wrong way to go.

Rather, teams should be trained to be flexible, resilient and to welcome unexpected demands. Furthermore, teams should be encouraged to make the most of the unique opportunities that come from being on the road.

To see the sights, experience the culture, and explore.

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This strategy goes to the cause of poor away performances rather than treating the symptoms.

Quite simply, I believe that if a team looks forward to touring, their chance of success increases by orders of magnitude.

When was the last time you were seriously successful at something that did not excite you?

I can already hear coaches and managers wondering out loud about how to motivate players for trips to less exotic locations on the itinerary. I’ll answer that question in two parts.

Firstly, every location where Super rugby is played has unique and interesting aspects to it.

Secondly, the previously sentence is irrelevant.

Attitude is what counts. And attitude is most certainly a quality that can be conditioned.

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Leaders in a team can directly influence attitude by approaching touring with a positive mindset. It’s become cliché to refer to positive attitudes as being infectious.

But nowhere is it more important for teams to adopt this attitude than when travelling. And no single player better exemplified positivity than Stirling Mortlock.

Stirlo does not have an off switch.

In fact, somebody dialled up his crazy and ripped off the knob! In the seven seasons I played with Stirlo, I have to think long and hard to imagine him even slightly “down”.

He is genuinely infectious. No gym session, team run or mad Monday could ever be boring with Snork around.

At times, I found his limitless energy slightly irritating. But far more often I just buckled up for the ride and always felt better for it.

Another reason I thought of Sterlo this week is because it was his injury time try that created the euphoria in a Loftus change room six years ago.

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Here’s to hoping the Brums can produce a similar outcome on Saturday.

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