Tim Horan: Tate McDermott’s try saver proves it’s the little things which have transformed the Reds
Their fans thought they didn't give a XXXX but after a trip to the bush where they were put to work, the Queensland Reds are Australian rugby’s champagne entertainers, writes Tim Horan.
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In life, business and sport, if you can find those little one percenters, they can make the world of difference and it’s exactly the same in the game of rugby.
If you want proof, just take a closer look at Tate McDermott’s try saving tackle on Tevita Kuridrani last weekend.
The Reds halfback looked like he came from nowhere to dislodge the ball from Kuridrani’s arms because what he did just before that almost went unnoticed.
At the same moment that Kuridrani got the ball at full pace, McDermott had just got back to his feet after tackling the Brumbies flanker Will Miller, so was still way behind the flying centre when he set off after him.
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McDermott’s desperation speaks volumes for the culture that Brad Thorn has instilled in the Reds.
You saw that last time they played the Rebels when they were pinned on their goal line, defending not only for themselves but for everyone who supports Queensland rugby.
That all stems back to a year ago when Thorn sent his players to regional Queensland to reconnect with the game’s grassroot followers.
The players were split into pairs and sent out to be billeted with families all over the state from Cairns in the state’s Far North to Dalby in the Darling Downs, Longreach in Central Queensland and Mt Isa in the Gulf Country.
They visited local rugby clubs and schools and stayed on cattle properties and sheep stations, building fences and rebuilding that missing connection with the game in the country regions.
Doing that doesn’t guarantee you will win games but what it does do is remind players that they’re not just playing for themselves.
A lot of people talk about the importance of culture in business and family life but in sport, it’s the foundation that sets the tone for your team for the next two or three years but it has to keep evolving because there’s always new people coming into the team.
At the end of 1990, when I had just turned 20 and was still just new to the Wallaby team, I got a strange phone call from coach Bob Dwyer on November 2, telling me to drink a glass of champagne.
I asked him why and he said it ‘because in exactly one year’s time from today, we’re going to win the World Cup and we’ll be celebrating with champagne.’
I was a XXXX drinker at the time and it was my first glass of champagne, so it didn’t taste all that great to be honest, but I tell you what, it sure tasted sweet 365 days later when we did win the World Cup.
Last year in Japan, on the same day as the World Cup final, I caught up with Bob and about half a dozen of our teammates from 1991 and we had another glass of champagne together.
That’s what team culture is all about, and for the Reds — who are now one win away from a grand final — that’s meant resetting and reinforcing the standards of a professional rugby player playing for the Reds.
The Rebels have got that too, so they can’t be discounted this weekend.
They’ve been on the road for 12 weeks now (and though you sometimes get sick of your roommate after a couple of weeks and need a change) you can see the mateship and camaraderie that’s developed in the way they have finished off their last two games.
It’s clear that they’ve got a lot of trust and belief in the players around them and there’s a very measured and calm approach at the back end of games and that only comes from being together for a long period of time and all those one percenters you learn along the way.
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Originally published as Tim Horan: Tate McDermott’s try saver proves it’s the little things which have transformed the Reds