2011 Super Rugby Brumbies Player of the Year

It was a tough year for the Brumbies. Their tally of four wins is the lowest they’ve had since the 1998 Super 12 season (which was 11 rounds long). There was the turmoil of a sacked coach, a new coach and then another new coach. Then there were numerous injuries, most notably to their two captains, Stephen Hoiles and Rocky Elsom. Before it all came off the rails, GAGR’s BrumbyJack forecast them to make the finals in his preview, but they didn’t — so let’s look beyond the team performance and get down to the individuals. Whom did our forum readers deem to be the best of the bunch? Read on and all will be revealed.

Round 1 v. Chiefs

3 – Robbie Coleman
2 – Stephen Moore
1 – Dan Palmer

BRUMBIES 28 (Robbie Coleman, Francis Fainifo, Salesi Ma’afu tries Matt Giteau 2 cons 3 pens) bt CHIEFS 20 (Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Lelia Masaga, Sitiveni Sivivatu tries Stephen Donald con pen)

Round 2 v. Rebels

3 – Pat McCabe
2 – Ita Vaea
1 – Stephen Moore

MELBOURNE REBELS 25 (Stirling Mortlock try Danny Cipriani con 6 pens Mark Gerrard drop goal) bt BRUMBIES 24 (Pat McCabe, Henry Speight tries Matt Giteau con 3 pens drop goal)

Round 3 v. Reds

3 – Pat McCabe
2 – Ita Vaea
1 – Stephen Moore

QUEENSLAND REDS 31 (Scott Higginbotham try Quade Cooper con 7  pens drop goal) bt BRUMBIES 25 (Stephen Moore, Pat McCabe, Ita Vaea, Ben Alexander tries Matt Giteau con pen)

Round 4 v. Crusaders

3 – Colby Faingaa
2 – Dan Palmer
1 – Pat McCabe

CRUSADERS 52 (Sean Maitland 4, Israel Dagg, Sonny Bill Williams tries Daniel Carter 4, Matthew Berquist cons Carter 4 pens) bt BRUMBIES 10 (Matt Giteau try con pen)

Round 6 v. Waratahs

3 – Matt Giteau 
2 – Christian Lealiifano
1 – Ita Vaea

NSW WARATAHS 29 (Ryan Cross, Sitaleki Timani tries Kurtley Beale 2 cons 5 pens) bt BRUMBIES 22 (Ben Alexander try Matt Giteau con 5 pens)

Round 7 v. Highlanders

3 – Matt Giteau
2 – Matt Toomua
1 – Ben Alexander

HIGHLANDERS 26 (Jason Rutledge 2, Jamie Mackintosh tries Colin Slade con Tony Brown 2, Slade pens) bt BRUMBIES 20 (Matt Giteau, Patrick Phibbs, Andrew Smith tries Giteau con pen)

Round 8 v. Hurricanes

3 – Matt Giteau
2 – Peter Kimlin 
1 – Ita Vaea

BRUMBIES 17 (Henry Speight try Matt Giteau 4 pens drop goal) bt HURRICANES 16 (Aaron Cruden try con Daniel Kirkpatrick 2, Cruden pens)

Round 9 v. Force

3 – Matt Giteau
2 – Michael Hooper
1 – Christian Lealiifano 

WESTERN FORCE 27 (David Smith 2, James O’Connor tries O’Connor 2, William Ripia cons O’Connor 2 pens) bt BRUMBIES 19 (Matt Giteau try con 4 pens)

Round 11 v. Cheetahs

3 – Peter Kimlin
2 – Matt Giteau
1 – Michael Hooper

CHEETAHS 47 (Sarel Pretorius 2, WP Nel, Coenraad Oosthuizen tries Sias Ebersohn 3 cons 5 pens Riaan Viljoen 2 drop goals) bt BRUMBIES 36 (Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Robbie Coleman, Francis Fainifo, Michael Hooper tries Matt Giteau 4 cons pen)

Round 12 v. Sharks

3 – Ita Vaea
2 – Christian Lealiifano
1 – Peter Kimlin

SHARKS 34 (Anton Bresler, Adrian Jacobs, JP Pietersen, Steven Sykes tries Patrick Lambie 4 cons 2 pens) bt BRUMBIES 16 (Christian Lealiifano try Matt Giteau con 3 pens)

Round 13 v. Lions

3 – Stephen Moore
2 – Matt Giteau
1 – Colby Faingaa

LIONS 29 (Alwyn Hollenbach, Michael Rhodes, Jaco Taute, Deon van Rensburg tries Elton Jantjies 3 cons pen) bt BRUMBIES 20 (Stephen Moore, Andrew Smith tries Matt Giteau 2 cons 2 pens)

Round 14 v. Force

3 – Pat McCabe
2 – Colby Faingaa
1 – Stephen Moore

WESTERN FORCE 13 (Sam Wykes try James O’Connor con 2 pens) drew BRUMBIES 13 (Henry Speight try Matt Giteau con 2 pens)

Round 15 v. Stormers

3 – Adam Ashley-Cooper 
2 – Matt Toomua
1 – Christian Lealiifano

STORMERS 16 (Francois Louw try Kurt Coleman con Coleman 2, Gio Aplon pens) bt BRUMBIES 3 (Christian Lealiifano pen)

Round 16 v. Reds

3 – Stephen Moore 
2 – Patrick Phibbs
1 – Mark Chisholm

BRUMBIES 22 (Stephen Moore try Matt Giteau con 5 pens) bt QUEENSLAND REDS 14 (Ben Lucas try Quade Cooper 3 pens)

Round 17 v. Rebels

3 – Stephen Moore 
2 – Pat McCabe
1- Matt Giteau

BRUMBIES 32 (Matt Giteau, Christian Lealiifano, Pat McCabe, Stephen Moore, Tyrone Smith tries Giteau 2 cons pen) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 17 (Jarrod Saffy, Afusipa Taumoepeau tries Danny Cipriani 2 cons pen)

Round 18 v. Waratahs

3 – Matt Giteau 
2 -Ita Vaea
1 – Jerry Yanuyanutawa

NSW WARATAHS 41 (Chris Alcock, Sosene Anesi, David Dennis, Sitaleki Timani, Lachlan Turner tries Kurtley Beale 5 cons 2 pens) bt BRUMBIES 7 (Francis Fainifo try Matt Giteau con)

And for the second year in a row, one of the Brumbies’ most maligned stars takes out the Green & Gold Rugby Brumbies Player of the Year Award. Matt Giteau had a slow start to the season but really clicked into gear soon after, at one stage taking Brumby of the Match honours in four consecutive games. While Stephen Moore, Pat McCabe and rookie Ita Vaea were consistent performers, experienced heads such as Ben Alexander, Mark Chisholm and Adam Ashley-Cooper seemed to not stand up when most needed.

Check out the gap after Vaea! Speaking of whom, what a performance by Ita this season. He was promoted from the Academy program following injuries to Elsom and Hoiles, and didn’t he take his chances! He must be a real chance for a Wallaby cap this year, and possibly a World Cup spot as well. His back row partners Peter Kimlin and Colby Faingaa also impressed in season 2011 and one would hope incoming coach Jake White can assist in their continued development.

There we go. The best of the Brumbies. What do you think? Was Gits the clear-cut best choice? Who should have been higher up? Were Chis, Benny A and AAC really as bad as we thought they were?

Come back tomorrow to check out who the Western Force Player of the Year was, according to the fans at G&GR!