„Jeszcze bardziej wyjątkowy”: Brumby dołącza do ekskluzywnego klubu gwiazd Canberry

Ryan Lonergan is joining ACT Brumbies royalty.

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He'll become just the third Canberra junior to play 100 Super Rugby games for the Brumbies - and the first in 20 years - joining coach Stephen Larkham and George Gregan, two of the biggest names in world rugby let alone the capital.

Brumbies captain Ryan Lonergan will become just the third Canberra junior to play 100 Super Rugby games for the Super Rugby club. Pictures by Keegan Carroll, Karleen Minney and Gary Schafer

Lonergan hopes he can be an inspiration for the next Canberra kid to achieve the milestone, which he'll bring up against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday night.

"I hope so. I hope it shows that you can go through all the club footy here and all the representative stuff that the Brums run, and you can make it and be successful at the Brumbies," he said on Tuesday.

"I think there's a few examples of us doing that at the Brumbies.

"Obviously my brother [Lachlan] and Rory [Scott] ... head coach [Larkham].

"It makes us super proud to be able to do that and if we can have an influence on guys aspiring to be Brumbies then that makes it even more special."

Lonergan made his Wallabies debut last year - against New Zealand at Eden Park - but adding to his five Tests isn't what's driving the boy who grew up on a farm in Williamsdale.

Ending the Brumbies' Super Rugby drought, which dates back to 2004, is the main force driving him beyond 100 games.

Larkham and Gregan were both playing the last time they claimed the title.

The Brumbies sit fourth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder and are perennial finalists - 2018 was the last time they didn't make the play-offs in a non-COVID-affected season.

Lonergan felt ending that drought would be the best audition he could make to keeping his Wallabies jersey as well.

"It'd definitely be a title with the Brums," Lonergan said when asked about what's driving him.

"We've had a great team the last couple of years and we've just fallen short.

"I feel like the group has sort of taken over a little bit more, as the coaches kind of want, and the group's really taking responsibility for how we're wanting to play and how we are playing.

"The focus is fully on trying to have a successful season here at Brums and then what happens after that will take care of itself."

Having just had the bye, the Brumbies have spent the past week-and-a-half stewing on their loss to arch-rivals NSW.

Lonergan said standards had slipped leading up to the game and it served as a wake-up call for the squad ahead of the trip to the bottom of New Zealand.

They'll fly to Auckland, via Melbourne, on Wednesday and spend the night there before finishing the trip to the South Island the following day.

He felt the breakdown was an area where the Waratahs exposed them and it had become a focal point for the Highlanders.

"We're in a good spot," the Brumbies captain said.

"Everyone knows that if we can tidy up the things that we spoke about, that we can beat any team.

"We just know that we have to lift our training standards.

"We probably slipped a little bit.

"It's probably on us as leaders to just drive those standards throughout, because we probably did see a bit of a fade throughout the seven games. "

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC ROUND NINE

Friday: ACT Brumbies v Otago Highlanders at Dunedin, 5.05pm.

'The right way to go': Brumby has no regrets after knocking back NRL

There was interest from NRL supercoach Wayne Bennett and South Sydney, but Billy Pollard didn't pick rugby union as much as it picked him.

Seven years later and the ACT Brumbies hooker is set to bring up his 50^th Super Rugby Pacific cap - against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday night.

Brumbies hooker Billy Pollard hopes his 50th Super Rugby game can reignite his try-scoring blitz of last year. Pictures by Keegan Carroll and Sitthixay Ditthavong

It's the same club he made his debut against - although Pollard's hoping Friday goes better than that first one.

It wasn't the 24-year-old's best game, but it gave him a taste for the top level and he hasn't looked back.

But back in the day, rugby league was also looking to sign the Sydney product - whose dad John and grandfather Paul both played for the North Sydney Bears.

"I didn't actually make [a choice], it kind of just happened without me having to pick one or the other," Pollard said on Easter Monday.

"I always thought that was a sign that union was probably the right way to go.

"Certainly hasn't been any regrets.

"I absolutely love the Brumbies and I love the game of union.

"If you ever get the chance to represent the Wallabies, it's always something that's extremely special.

"Also, you get to travel a lot too, which is a huge bonus. And I absolutely love it."

He made his debut against the Highlanders in 2021.

Not that it went to plan.

"It was a shocker for me actually," Pollard said.

"It was against Highlanders. We got pumped.

"It was in 2021. It was the last round.

"I wasn't ready for it, but [then Brumbies coach] Dan McKellar knew just to give me a shot, just to give me a bit of experience and taste of it.

"It's something that I still am extremely appreciative for. But yeah, it was a shocker."

It was part of a front-row frenzy for the Brumbies in 2025, with Pollard finishing the season with 11 meat pies to lead the way for the Super Rugby powerhouse.

A lot of that will depend on how the Brumbies' maul goes against the Highlanders.

"Yeah I hope so," Pollard said.

"A lot of that came off the maul so if we can get the maul going, and [James Slipper] says as well, I'm at the back doing nothing, so that would be nice if I could just cherry-pick a few."

The Brumbies sit fourth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder, but have had the bye to stew on their loss to arch rivals NSW Waratahs in their last game.

They need to return to the winners' list to stay in touch with the prized top-two positions to earn semi-final hosting rights.

But Pollard said that Tahs loss wouldn't be used as motivation against the Highlanders.

They needed to move on - once they'd learnt their lessons.

"We were very disappointed with our performance against the Tahs, but, to be fair, they played really well too," Pollard said.

"It's a matter of now learning from that and just kind of leaving it.

"You don't want to go into a game trying to rectify the previous loss, because you kind of go away from what you're trying to achieve and improve on.

"So yeah, it's obviously disappointing, but at this point you really just have to park that, learn from it, and then just look forward to this week."

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC ROUND NINE

Friday: ACT Brumbies v Otago Highlanders at Dunedin, 5.05pm.

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