Christian Lealiifano has been part of Brumbies teams since made a Super Rugby debut as a fresh-faced teenager in 2007.
But on the eve of his last finals campaign, the skipper has identified a “special” and unique sense of connection in the 2019 squad that has fuelled their successful season.
The Brumbies play the Sharks in a quarter-final at GIO Stadium on Saturday night and the team has the chance to not only stay alive in the playoffs with a victory, but to add an entry to the club’s storied history too.
After a strong regular season finish, the Brumbies have the chance to win seven games straight, which no other Brumbies side has done before in a single season; even in their two championship seasons in 2001 and 2004.
Both of those sides went on longer winning streaks when counting the next season, too, but none had carried the same pre-finals winning streak that Lealiifano’s men have earned heading into their opening playoff against the Sharks.
Lealiifano was been a member of the 2013 side that lost to the Chiefs in Hamilton, and has played finals … other occasions, but said he’d couldn’t offer an view on whether he was most confident of winning a title in his last season at the club.
But the 31-year-old expanded on a question about whether there was a different feeling among this Brumbies group to other teams in his career.
"I was thinking earlier in the week how special this group is,” Lealiifano said.
"Just in the connections we have made and the way we enjoy being around each other and the way we work hard for each other, it’s something that I feel is a little bit different to previous years. That’s why it is special.”
It’s the same sentiment expressed by several players in the Brumbies in the last few weeks; as recently as Friday after the captain's run when veteran no.8 Locky McCaffrey said something similar on social media.
Former Wallaby and leading performance analyst Ben Darwin asked a question on social media on Friday: "What do you believe to be the key component of high performing teams?"
McCaffrey responded: "The strength of the relationships between everyone involved."
The tight-knit Brumbies are rolling with "quiet confidence" but have been at pains this week to not over-hype either the fianls, or the impending departures of several senior players like Lealiifano, Rory Arnold, Sam Carter, Henry Speight and David Pocock.
The Brumbies have won eight of their past nine games and seven in a row at Canberra Stadium.
Those numbers are a far cry from the Brumbies start to the season when they lost five of their first seven games, before storming home to clinch the Australian conference.
Lealiifano said the switch flicked when they began focusing on preparation instead of results, and he emphasised nothing needed to change for finals.
"It's about trusting our game and what we've been doing and we took a real shift in focusing on our preparation and we've seen that pay off," Lealiifano said.
"It's about keeping our standards super high and not getting ahead of ourselves and it's been working really well.
"We're keeping it normal this week and training hard and making sure we're doing the right things to put ourselves in a position to play well.
"We haven't had to talk too much about (keeping things normal) and that's the quiet confidence in the group and trusting what we're doing."
The Brumbies have a golden opportunity to break a 15-year title drought thanks to a favourable finals draw and a full-strength squad.
The Brumbies haven't faced the Sharks this season but Lealiifano said their best rugby is good enough to beat any team in the competition.
"They're a quality team, they play big and come with strong set piece then they've got some really fast outside backs, similar to what we've had the last few weeks," Lealiifano said.
"They'll be dangerous and if we're not on our game they'll hurt us.
"But our focus is on putting our best performance out there and seeing what happens. Yeah, I think our best is good enough."
The Brumbies take on the Sharks in their Super Rugby quarter-final at GIO Stadium on Saturday June 22, kicking off at 8:05pm AEST, LIVE on FOX SPORTS, Kayo and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO.
TEAM
Brumbies to face Sharks
1.Scott Sio
2. Folau Fainga'a
3. Allan Alaalatoa
4. Rory Arnold
5. Sam Carter
6. Rob Valetini
7. Tom Cusack
8. Pete Samu
9. Joe Powell
10. Christian Lealiifano
11. Toni Pulu
12. Irae Simone
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Henry Speight
15. Tom Banks
Reserves
16. Connal McInerney
17. James Slipper
18. Les Makin
19. Darcy Swain
20. McCaffrey
21. Jahrom Brown
22. Matt Lucas
23. Tom Wright
