Over the past 18 months, backrow whirlwind Fraser McReight has spent time with Michael Jones, David Pocock and David Wilson beyond the fierce skirmishes we see on the field.
Wilson, the 1999 World Cup-winner, sought out McReight for a chat at the Queensland Reds Season Launch Lunch when congratulating him as Australia’s Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year for 2023.
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From close range, McReight absorbed the humble give-back mentality of Jones, one of the greatest All Blacks and now the Chair of Moana Pasifika.
Jones entered the Reds dressing room in Whangarei in April, took a seat and told the whole team how much it meant for his formative club and Pasifika players to feel the embrace of Super Rugby.
The connection with the indomitable Pocock came last year. The pair spoke several times on Zoom about mindset, drills and how they assessed scenarios on the field.
That trio of connections would rank in any Hall of Fame for flankers. It’s a status that the Wallabies’ top opensider may one day reach himself with the runway of massive Test targets ahead.
You have to win acclaim in the mightiest of arenas. That will always include Tests against the All Blacks for the Bledisloe Cup as unfolds on Saturday afternoon at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Rugby World Cup excellence is another tick as Simon Poidevin (1991), Wilson (1999), George Smith and Phil Waugh (2003), David Pocock (2011) and Michael Hooper (2015) will always have in their distinguished records as top flankers of their eras.
The mouthwatering Grand Slam adventure at the end of the year and next season’s British and Irish Lions tour are also essential showcases that build your rating as a player.
Excel against the best packs that England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland offer and it magnifies any reputation. The media of the northern hemisphere always have a Captain Cook quality…you might always have been there but you are not “discovered” until they stumble across you.
This is all just a tease on where the McReight career is capable of heading in the years ahead.
He’s gone to the next level in Super Rugby Pacific for the Reds as a truly dominant player with his pilfering, link play, tackling and sheer ability to change a game.
At Test level, he is out of his apprenticeship. He now has 20 Tests behind him and is hitting the sweet spot of his career at 25.
Curiously, four of his five Tests against the All Blacks have been cameos off the bench. He was on the field at the MCG in 2022 when the vagaries of French refereeing cruelly tore a win from the Wallabies when Bernard Foley hesitated over a clearing kick. He started in Dunedin last year when a 17-3 lead was wasted in another heartbreaker.
Getting a fuller crack at the All Blacks is something McReight will relish.
His mindset is upbeat and full of ambition to be part of a Wallabies outfit that turns the tide. The adjective he chooses to describe these Tests is not one many grab for.
“The All Blacks are a fun team to play against. They have a very counter-attacking mentality and a fast and skilful game generally,” McReight said.
“No Test against them is going to be slow. It’s always fast and open and they are the best at it.
“They slice you up if you aren’t 100 per cent spot on with your own skills. The goal is to be 100 per cent in every effort.
“I’m not the best spectator. I massively want to play in these Australia v New Zealand Tests.”
Watching close mate Harry Wilson lead the Wallabies from afar was one of the few upsides of being a TV viewer while his broken thumb mended.
The pair have played beside each other since junior representative teams in Brisbane and the respect both ways runs deep.
“I was stoked to see Harry honoured with the captaincy,” McReight said.
“It may have shocked some people but Harry is a guy who leads with his actions and leads from the front.”
McReight was happy to elaborate on his 2023 connection with Pocock, whose mastery at the breakdown frustrated and beat the Springboks in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final in Wellington.
It was a hook-up arranged by Dan Palmer, the 2003 Wallabies scrum coach.
“Dave and I had a few Zooms. He was one of the great flankers I grew up watching,” McReight said.
“He spoke about how he saw things when you get into certain positions on the field.
“He shared the drills he did to improve and just what his mindset was.
“It’s always going to be difficult to put into words something that is better shown on a field but it was really good to have those conversations.”
As any good openside flanker knows, there are no shortcuts when doing your job well means putting yourself in some of the most exposed positions on a rugby field.
The more you latch onto the opposition’s possession with quick reflexes at the ruck, the more heavyweight bodies are going to torpedo your way to clean you out.
You have to be fearless or forget it.
McReight keeps a clear head when it comes to his bread-and-butter work at the breakdown.
“You are going to be putting your head in some dark places. I try not to think of ramifications,” McReight said.
“It’s instinctive, react, go for it and you are hoping to force a penalty, slow down opposition ball and not give away a penalty yourself.”
McReight is a Wilson-style of flanker.
“He’s a true No.7,” Wilson said, “He’s a guy who is great on the ball. You need real balance in your backrow and he plays the No.7 role superbly.”
It’s a wiser McReight picking his targets these days because choosing the right breakdowns to attack is the skill of the best opensides.
“It’s something you develop over time. Making better decisions goes a long way,” McReight said.
As a team, the Wallabies have to make a lot of those better decisions to flip some of the heartbreak moments of recent Bledisloe Cup history into the sweet taste of victory.
