HE’S played premier rugby in Sydney and even plied his trade overseas but, for all of that, Scone five-eighth Michael Ruthven has never won a premiership.
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“I’ve never won a grand final in all my footy,” Ruthven said.
Tomorrow he’ll get the chance to change that when the Brumbies tackle Walcha in the Tier 2 grand final.
It will be his last game. He said he’s hanging up the boots.
“It would be a great away to finish up,” he said.
A Sydney boy, Ruthven moved to Scone three years ago with his family looking for a tree-change, and was quickly snapped up by the Brumbies.
Little wonder when you look at his resume – Australian U19s, first grade for Warringah, a season and a half with Randwick, and a couple of years playing in New Zealand.
At the time of moving to Scone he had stopped playing but decided to pull on the boots again.
“I’ve really enjoyed my footy up here,” he said.
And now he’s got one final chance to win a title.
The Brumbies were the first team through to the grand final after beating the Rams 28-13 in the major semi-final two weeks ago.
“The boys are playing well,” Ruthven said.
“We had a bit of a hiccup at Barraba three weeks ago but the last two weeks the boys have turned their attitude around.”
With that, their results have turned around.
“There were a few games through the middle we dropped off but the boys have come good at the right end of the season,” he said.
The Rams’ game was one of their best performances for the season.
They didn’t really put a foot wrong and got on the front foot early.
“A great first 40 really set us up,” Ruthven said.
“We spoke a lot about attitude and the boys had the right attitude for the full 80.”
That’s been their biggest issue.
They’ve been prone to lapses where they’ve let sides back in.
The forwards led the charge.
“The forwards played really well and stepped up,” Ruthven said.
“They certainly put us on the front foot.”
It set a great platform for him to unleash the backs.
“It was really good.
“It was a good confidence boost going into the grand final,” he said.
He said they don’t need to do anything “too different” tomorrow, although they expect the Rams will be better.
