Andrew Muirhead's burning desire to own ACT's No.15 jersey is reminiscent of the club's new-found attitude as the Brumbies transform into "dark horses".
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The Brumbies limped through the opening three rounds of the Super Rugby season but Muirhead believes they are primed to launch a raid on the Australian conference after returning to the winners circle.
The 24-year-old was tossed the No.15 jersey by coach Dan McKellar - who swung the axe in search of players that are going to take their chances - and impressed in his first start at fullback as the Brumbies toppled the Durban Sharks at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
He has ousted fullback Tom Banks nipping at his heels but Muirhead is desperate to make the most of his chance as the Brumbies fight their way back to title contention.
"Bloody oath, I don't really want to let go of it now. I've just got to keep performing and keep getting better each week and hopefully I can lock that down," Muirhead said.
"I started off pretty rough, not probably the way I wanted to start [against the Sharks]. I would like to play better but warming into the game and the pace of the game is something I've got to improve on.
"It definitely comes with experience. I'm pretty inexperienced coming into the starting XV so I guess I'm going to have to learn from that."
Muirhead says the Brumbies are now the dark horses of the competition after falling well off the pace in the Australian conference following consecutive derby defeats.
The Brumbies flyer quit his job in Brisbane as a powerline technician and started work as a delivery man to chase a Super Rugby career in Canberra.
He is now gearing up for a clash with arch-rivals the NSW Waratahs following the Brumbies' round six bye.
"We'll come back after the week off and get into 'Tah week', which is a pretty big week for us. We get up for that so I think the boys are going to find that next level when we face them," Muirhead said.
"Obviously we've been pretty run down on the road for three or four weeks now. Over the next week we can refresh and have a more winning mindset going into that Tahs game."
McKellar says he was "very impressed but not surprised" by Muirhead's solid contribution at the back which garnered a try assist and a line break assist in 60 minutes on the park.
