Rugby is ultimately about enjoyment. Success on the field isn't necessarily relevant either, losing with style and grace and not getting hurt in the process is just as important, which is just as well given the form of Australia's teams this year. So with that in mind I present my Australian Super 14 team of the year – those participants who made the season as memorable as last year’s when, um, err.

On with the team…

Fullback
Matthew Burke – Burke’s influence on this year’s Super 14 was immense. After the injury to Chris Latham it wasn’t enough for the nation’s fullbacks to compete against each other for a Wallaby spot but they also had to compete against a guy who had hardly been seen in Australia for three years.

Wingers
Clyde Rathbone – With the departure of Matt Rogers from Rugby Union someone had to take up the mantle of most injury prone and Rathbone passed with distinction, barely surviving more than one match intact.

Ben Tune – Eddie Jones convinced Tune to delay his retirement to go round one more time with the Reds. With no tries until round 12 and a team that redefined languishing, Tune must wonder what he was thinking.

Centres
Ryan Cross – In what can only be applauded as superb timing, Cross made the switch to Rugby Union just in time to see his former League team – the Sydney Roosters, start the season with five straight losses and they still sit on the bottom of the ladder.

Timana Tahu – With more moves than the Waratahs, Rugby League star Tahu signed with the Waratahs after revealing that he didn’t like Rugby Union because you only got to touch the ball once a game. Lote Tuquiri and wads of cash soon changed his mind.

Five-Eighth / Fly-Half
Quade Cooper – Cooper’s part Mohawk, part mullet, part crew cut, enabled him to take up the mantle, not only as most over-hyped young player but also as having the worst hair, from the so 2005 blonde tips of the Force’s Matts Giteau and Henjak.

Halfback / Scrum Half
Josh Valentine / Brett Sheehan / Josh Holmes – With the departure of Chris Whittaker, Valentine, Sheehan and Holmes played the halfback shuffle. By season-end Holmes had a mortgage on the position and just in time – he’s signed with the Brumbies.

Number 8
Scott Fava’s sideburns – Fava is more sideburns than man to the extent that after each overseas win they would leave him the next morning either in a gutter or a police lock-up. Fortunately he had the sideburns under control by the time the Force started winning at home.

Breakaways / Flankers
Phil Waugh - Waugh's contribution to the Waratahs - captaining the first round win, a stirring speech before the victory over the Reds, and playing only half of the team’s only other victory over the Highlanders - is revealing. If Waugh gets injured during the World Cup the Wallabies could bring home the silverware.

Daniel Heenan - Five years ago Heenan was touted as the next John Eales. By 2005 he was already well entrenched in the 'injury prone' category and sure enough injured a shoulder playing his second and most recent Wallaby test in 2006, but he is still on the Brumbies' books.

Second Row / Locks
David Lyons - Desperate times call for desperate measures, and so desperate was Ewen Mackenzie that he started a game with Lyons as a nominated line out jumper. The only problem is that, relatively speaking, Lyons is a short fat guy. The experiment lasted one week.

Nathan Sharpe - The captain of the Western Force looks more and more like his coach John Mitchell. He got sent off a few times and may have scored a try or two and given the occasional rousing speech, but I just like his head.

Front Row
Waratah Beards - The Waratahs' front row of Al Baxter, Adam Freier and Matt Dunning grew beards as a tactic that last worked in Australia 30 years ago. It didn't work for the Waratahs though.

Coach
Eddie Jones - In what was touted as a major coup, the QRU signed Jones. Within weeks he was calling his own team gutless, and commenced feuds with referees, ARU officials and John Connolly. Extraordinarily, the QRU then fought tooth and nail against Japan, Fiji and European clubs to resign him and just in time to see the Reds lose 92-3.


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