Allan Alaalatoa's RUPA medal for excellence enhances his Brumbies captaincy credentials

It's also the reason why the tighthead prop has emerged as an ACT Brumbies captaincy contender for 2020 and beyond despite playing in perhaps the most demanding position of all.

Alaalatoa was recognised as the Rugby Union Players' Association medal for excellence winner at a function in Sydney, capping a year which confirmed his standing as a world-class front-rower.

He made his World Cup debut, played in 16 Brumbies games and won the Brett Robinson Award as the ACT's player of the year. He became just the second prop in the award's almost 20-year history to win the top prize.

"It was a bit of a shock. It was a great way to finish the year, especially being recognised by players from the other teams," Alaalatoa said of the RUPA award. "That, for me, was truly special."

It's been an impressive year of awards for a prop and the respect he commands from teammates has put him on the radar as a man capable of replacing Christian Lealiifano next year.

Alaalatoa and the rest of the Brumbies' Wallabies will return to training next week and coach Dan McKellar will likely wait until his squad settles before unveiling his skipper for the Super Rugby campaign.

Alaalatoa, Tom Cusack, Lachlan McCaffrey and Joe Powell are some of the options McKellar has to choose from.

"We've lost some quality leaders, but that provides opportunity for boys to step up into those new roles," Alaalatoa said.

"It's going to be an exciting year for the Brumbies as a whole. Some will get a taste of Super Rugby, some will become leaders. It's exciting and I'm looking forward to coming back.".

The demands of playing in the front row could affect Alaalatoa's captaincy claims given it's rare for a tighthead prop to play an entire 80 minutes.

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But his standing as respected leader could negate the need for the captain to be on the field for every minute, especially with Cusack, McCaffrey and Powell ready as capable deputies.

The Brumbies' World Cup players will return to training next week to get a Super Rugby headstart for their round-one clash on January 31.

"Probably the only benefit of not going well at the World Cup is that we get them back a bit earlier," Powell said.

Powell and a group of younger Brumbies were added to the leadership group last year to fast-track their development alongside the likes of Lealiifano, David Pocock and Sam Carter.

"It was more just what goes into the running of a team, the meetings behind the scenes and the little conversations that happen to help the performance," Powell said.

Brumbies front-rowers Alaalatoa, Scott Sio and Folau Faingaa have all signed long-term contracts to give the club some up-front certainty for the coming years.