Tate McDermott daydreams of a Queensland Reds’ triumph in the Super Rugby AU final igniting the same inspiration he got as a freckle-faced 13-year-old.
The Reds halfback knows exactly how a soaring success on Saturday night can create childhood passion, heroes and footy ambitions in a thousand different households.
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That exact spark touched him.
He was a long-haired schoolboy, with a greater interest in surf lifesaving, when mother Lexie treated her kids Tate, Lexie and Flynn to tickets to the 2011 final at Suncorp Stadium.
“I still remember the night vividly. We were in the top right-hand corner of the packed stands at the Milton Road end cheering Willy Genia as he won the title for the Reds,” McDermott recalled.
“It was so exciting. I had my little Reds’ jersey on.
“Look what that night did for rugby in Queensland?
“The Reds were the talk of the town in Brisbane and it inspired the next crop of young players to dream of being Reds not Broncos.
“Ten years is a long time between drinks. For me, that’s one of the great possibilities of Saturday night that we have the chance to inspire the next crop in Queensland rugby.”
Genia floated 65m on a chorus of 50,000 roaring voices to deliver his key 2011 try in the fairytale 18-13 win over the Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium.
How could any budding halfback not be inspired?
McDermott is still only 22. It’s impressive that he has such a grasp of what a Reds’ victory could mean on Saturday night in the 2021 final against the ACT Brumbies.
He is also wired to how tough it will be to come out on top against a side which has gone try-for-try and hit-for-hit with the Reds all season.
The Reds may have claimed thrilling victories by 40-38 in Canberra in March and 24-22 at Suncorp Stadium in April but there are themes that McDermott doesn’t want to see repeated.
“Each time, we gave the Brumbies a head start (17-0 and 12-0) and put pressure on ourselves to chase,” McDermott said.
“We want the fast start in our hands not with the opposition.
“Our loss to the Western Force was a bit of a wake-up call. It was the first time we had felt the pain of losing since last year’s Super Rugby AU final in Canberra.
“We don’t want to feel the same way we did in Canberra that night. It stung us all deeply.”
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McDermott said the Reds had been dialling up their intensity on defence for the final.
“We hadn’t been making opposition teams work as hard to get tries as we should have for a few weeks so there’s been work on mindset and putting more pressure on with the way we defend,” McDermott said.
“On attack, we had been saving certain stuff for the final which probably didn’t help us in some situations in the past few games either.
“The stakes are as high as they get in this final. Everyone is just excited for it and giving it everything.”
There were 19,185 fans in the stands who were all certain to return after the quality of the April clash between these sides.
That number is soaring to be beyond 40,000 for Saturday night’s final.
As the 2011 final demonstrated, big games can be decided by one game-breaking play.
McDermott has that bit of X-factor to potentially do what Genia did in 2011.
A quick-tap play, a sidestep through tiring forwards or backing up in support are all staples in the arsenal of one of Queensland’s most crowd-pleasing stars.
McDermott has already done his bit to re-ignite fans and their passion for the Reds over the past few seasons with his exhilarating style.
The grand stage of a final offers so much more.
Just ask the 13-year-old Tate McDermott.
It’s a rematch of the 2020 Super Rugby AU decider as the Reds host the Brumbies on Saturday 8 May at Suncorp Stadium, kicking off at 7:45pm AEST.Click here to purchase tickets to one of the most anticipated Rugby matches of the year.
