JOHANNESBURG: He’s a 33-year-old, six-game rookie who was preparing to quit rugby last year to return to the coalmines, but ACT Brumbies hooker Josh Mann-Rea says he is ready to shoulder a bigger workload as the club chases a Super Rugby title.
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Mann-Rea looms as a crucial cog in the Brumbies’ championship bid, thrust into a back-up hooker role to Wallabies star Stephen Moore for the rest of the season.
A year ago Mann-Rea was ready to go back to work at the coalmines after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament.
But LARS surgery sped up his recovery process and has given him one more chance.
“It has been a pretty wild ride … when I did my knee last year I thought it was over,” Mann-Rea said. “But I knuckled down and the Brumbies have great strength and condition and rehab staff … it’s been a rollercoaster and now I’m just trying to take my opportunities.
“I’ve been lucky to get this second opportunity and I’m just trying to let it go for as long as it can.”
Siliva Siliva’s season is over after having knee and ankle operations, but instead of recruiting another hooker the Brumbies are backing Mann-Rea to step up in the race to the finals.
Mann-Rea was an Australian junior star, training with Moore at the Queensland Academy and playing with Matt Giteau and Mark Gerrard in the Australian under-21s team.
But he threw his opportunities away and while Moore, Giteau and Gerrard were playing for the Wallabies, Mann-Rea was working in the coalmines.
A trip to Japan revived his career and he signed a one-year $42,000 extended player squad contract with the Brumbies last year.
He was rewarded with a full-time spot and a pay rise this season, but Mann-Rea admits he does not know if this year will be his last.
His contract expires at the end of the season and he hopes to use the three-week Super Rugby bye in June to determine whether he plays again next year.
“I’d like to think I have a few more years in me, I think I’m in the best shape of my career, but I just don’t know,” Mann-Rea said.
“If I got an offer from the Brumbies, it would be hard to leave. But it just depends what’s best for me and my family.”
The Brumbies play the Pretoria Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday morning Australian time.
Coaches Stephen Larkham and Laurie Fisher will make minimal changes to the side, with play-off hopes dangerously close to being blown away.
Lock Leon Power is set to make his return to the starting XV, while Fotu Auelua moves back to the bench and Jordan Smiler rejoins the squad.
Mann-Rea – or Bongo to his mates – has been instrumental in ensuring the Brumbies maintain a positive attitude despite losing to the Free State Cheetahs last weekend.
“He’s like a wind-up toy, he doesn’t have an off button,” said South African tour roommate Clyde Rathbone.
Mann-Rea says his enthusiasm comes from knowing what it is like to lose a chance to play rugby.
“I do feel like I’m ready to step up," he said. "It’s about accountability, I’m looking forward to it and hopefully I get as much time as what they need me for."
