Do you realise it’s just 32 days until Super Rugby kicks off? I used to say time flies, but these days it’s super bloody sonic. It seems like just yesterday we watched the final.
The Reds have a new skipper!
Hot on last week’s news that Fraser FN McReight had been elevated to the upper echelon of my player status regime comes news that the Queensland Reds have listened to me. They have made him the boss of the whole damned club.
“This role is a huge honour and even more so because I follow some great mates and leaders into the role having watched Tate (McDermott) and Liam (Wright) do a terrific job,” McReight said.
“They showed me the path over the past four seasons and hopefully I’ll now land on my path as a captain with all I’ve learnt about myself as a person and as a player.”
You can read more here.
McDermott’s view on a code hopper.
Outgoing Reds captain, Tate McDermott, has given his view on potential rugby player Zac Lomax
“With all due respect, I don’t really care,” said the Queensland Reds captain on Tuesday from a Wallabies camp in Sydney.
“I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry to be honest. Anyone of (Lomax’s) calibre, of course they’d be having discussions with, but we’ve got so many talented players here.
“You only have to look at Max Jorgensen for example, and the progression we saw from him over that 12-month period.
“That wing position has got incredible depth. Zac’s obviously a great league player, (but) I don’t know too much about him.”
Tate McDermott
Tate hasn’t missed, has he? But he is 100% on point. The Wallabies and Australian rugby have too much on their plates to worry about stumping up cash for a guy who plays a position we have plenty of depth in.
Read it here.
Running for Resilience – Ben Alexander
A story in the Newcastle Herald caught my eye.
Wallabies front-rower Ben Alexander struggled when he retired from professional rugby. Big time.
Not long after calling time on a career that included 72 caps for the Wallabies and 152 games for the Brumbies, he spiraled into depression.
Alexander didn’t want to leave the house. He lost his ambition. He couldn’t see a way out after chasing the rugby dream. The most-capped player in Brumbies history feared what was next.
“I felt like my battery for life was empty, and I lost hope that it would ever recharge,” Alexander told the Canberra Times in 2023.
Ben Alexander has acquired a taste for ‘meat pies’
Ben started doing Park Runs and reconnected with some old friends. A Brumbies fan called Matt Breen read about Alexander’s struggles and contacted him about cohosting a run for mental health. About 20 people turned up for the first run, so they decided to have another. And another, now about 1000 people run each week and Running for Resilience was born.
Running for Resilience has just launched in Newcastle. For a run near you, check out their website at https://www.runningforresilience.com/
If you or someone you know is in need of support, phone Lifeline 13 11 14.
Five key talking points
Rugby.com.au has a series of articles about each of Australia’s rugby teams. Well worth the time to check out how your side stacks up.