Tate McDermott has spoken enough about the Wallabies’ disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign.
Yet the harsh lessons learned alongside fellow captains Will Skelton and Dave Porecki could well be the spark that ignites Queensland’s co-captain – and season – in 2024.
“There was a lot of footy played and a lot of lessons learned,” McDermott said of last year’s rollercoaster, which also saw him named Australia's 86th Test captain between the Reds' quarter-final run and Australia's RWC tilt.
“Definitely from a leadership point of view where I can grow but also as a player, you know what’s going to take me to that next level and how I can bring the lessons I’ve learned over the past 12 months back into this environment.
“We spent so much time on leadership and we had an awesome group there (at the World Cup) – guys like Will Skelton, Dave Porecki – and just seeing how they approach different situations.
“We had a lot going on so our mantra was just to solve problems, that’s something I’ll bring back here.”
Now two months into pre-season and two weeks from an opening trial Super Rugby Pacific trial match, McDermott looks refreshed and measured.
“I guess that’s a little bit of a silver lining with all that time we’ve had off post- World Cup that I could devote quite a bit of time into my game and my development and also help Les when he arrived with the boys when we started our pre-season,” McDermott said.
“There's a lot I've enjoyed now working under Les - his composure, the way he sees the game, his positivity around the way we to play and attack – and just how he's run the program.
“It's been incredible these last couple of weeks to see the organisation and the team in such good hands, to build off the foundations we had with Thorny (Brad Thorn) and Les and his team have come in and done a really good job.
“We’ve got two weeks until our next trial match. That’s where my head’s at and I’m just really excited to see where this team can go.”
