Like sands through the hourglass, so were the ACT Brumbies days of the decade.
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If ever there was an appropriate time to compare a sporting side to a television soap opera, it has to be the Brumbies' drama, triumphs and tragedies between 2010-19.
Off the field: Coaches sacked, a chairman ousted, chief executives quitting, legal battles, bankruptcy fears and boardroom in-fighting.
On the field: the worst season of all time, a grand final return, some of Australia's best players and the heartwarming story of Christian Lealiifano.
The Brumbies have been riding a wild rollercoaster for 10 years, so let's have a look back through time before they start their 2020 campaign.
2010-11: 'A MOB WITHOUT ANY FIGHT'
You could tell by the look in interim Brumbies coach Tony Rea's eyes he was ready to explode when he walked into a post-match press conference in May of 2011.
His team had just been beaten by the Johannesburg Lions in front of a small home crowd for what was supposed to be a celebration of Matt Giteau's 100th Super Rugby game.
This Brumbies were supposed to be the all stars of the competition, a team described as the "Real Madrid of Super Rugby" ready to conquer all.
George Smith and Stirling Mortlock played their last games in Canberra in 2010, when the Brumbies narrowly missed the finals and finished sixth. But there was reason for optimism: Rocky Elsom, Giteau, Stephen Moore and Adam Ashley-Cooper among others.
But it all went pear-shaped the following year. Coach Andy Friend was sacked after just two games of the 2011 season, exposing a deep divide between players and coaches.
Rea, a hard-nosed former rugby league leader, stepped in to try to steady the ship. He had them diving on gravel in the carpark and training during the freezing Canberra nights to try to find some spirit.
The breaking point, however, came after the Lions game and no one was safe.
He said the organisation was making "soft choices", described the season as a "charade", the players as "a mob without any fight in us" and then added: ''I don't know how they look each other in the eye".
It was a brutal assessment of a dismal season. The Brumbies won just four games and finished third last. The way Friend was fired left a sore taste in many people's mouths, and that was the start of the decade. It was perhaps the lowest ebb in Brumbies history. Surely it couldn't get any worse?
2012-13: THE GREAT WHITE HOPE
How do you repair the rabble Rea was speaking of? Hire a World Cup-winning coach to do a Mr Fix It job.
That's exactly what Jake White did, bringing new ideas, a new program, new players, new coaches and a determination to win.
South African White led the Springboks to 2007 World Cup glory, but hadn't coached since then.
He was using Canberra as a coaching restart and he set about rebuilding a broken organisation by installing Ben Mowen as captain and playing a style that grated even the most rusted-on Brumbies fans.
The defensive kicking approach was far from entertaining, but it proved effective and was a massive improvement on the disaster of 2011.
The Brumbies missed the finals in 2012, but they recruited David Pocock the following year and White put faith in the likes of Scott Fardy, Nic White, Matt Toomua, Jesse Mogg and Tevita Kuridrani.
Pocock ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament early in the year, ruling him out for the season. Luckily for the Brumbies George Smith decided to make an Australian comeback, and the champion flanker led them to the grand final.
Smith's semi-final performance against the Bulls in Pretoria was an all-time classic, putting on a breakdown masterclass to stun the hostile crowd. Kuridrani scoring a shock match-winner as time ran out.
It was the Brumbies' first finals series since 2004 and they moved on to Hamilton for the decider, where Christian Lealiifano scored 22 points in a five-point loss.
It could have been so different had it not been for the finger tips of a Chiefs player, who desperately clung to Clyde Rathbone's jersey to stop the veteran from scoring.
The Brumbies' fairytale season was over, but everything seemed to be pointing towards a bright future.
Six weeks later, and with two years left on his contract, White quit after being overlooked for the Wallabies job.
"If ever there was a time for change, this is it," White said.
2014-16: 'IT'S GOING TO GET UGLY'
Stephen Larkham and Laurie Fisher stepped in to replace White, Andrew Fagan left as chief executive, chairman Sean Hammond was blindsided at an annual general meeting and the Brumbies were on rocky financial ground.
The club was in danger of going broke and after a long search, Michael Jones was appointed the club's chief executive.
Things were going OK on the field. The Brumbies made the finals in 2014 (despite another Pocock knee injury) and 2015, and a talented roster looked set to breakthrough for a championship.
But everything off the field was starting to fall apart. Jones was at war with key stakeholders and rumours about his future started to swirl.
A fed up Jones declared: "I'm not going anywhere" and added: "If I go to war, it's going to get ugly".
This is where the real Days Of Our Lives drama kicked off. Jones called extraordinary general meeting at Brumbies headquarters, but barely anyone showed up.
Why? Because they were on the other side of Canberra at a rebel meeting with the Brumbies board.
The cracks in Canberra's rugby community started to widen, with a KPMG report into the sale of the Brumbies' former Griffith site at the centre of the angst.
The board decided to stand down Jones. That should have been the end of it, right? No way
The next step was court action. Jones won a temporary injunction against the board's decision, triggering weeks of uncertainty and, as Jones predicted, ugliness.
More than a month after it all started, Jones and the board finally agreed to part ways.
The payout and the legal fees left a gaping hole in the Brumbies' finances, with the final hit believed to have been more than $1 million.
Rugby became the sideshow to the off-field saga, but the good news was it was finally time to focus on the game.
2016-17: LEALIIFANO'S GIFT OF LIFE
The Brumbies made the finals in 2016 despite the off-field distractions, but the real blow for the players and fans came after the final game of the season.
Christian Lealiifano's fitness started to waver and the playmaker watched on in shock as front-rowers started running past than him at training.
A routine check-up discovered an alarming reason: leukaemia.
The popular Brumbies captain was diagnosed with the blood cancer and was sent straight to hospital for chemotherapy. He was told it was likely he would never play rugby again and the first few months were about living for his family, not for the sport he played.
He eventually had a bone-marrow transplant with sister Sally and started to tick boxes in his recovery process.
He returned training and then made a shock comeback at an exhibition game in Singapore before playing for a Tuggeranong Vikings fourth-grade side alongside brother Lix.
The big Super Rugby moment came in the finals series. Lealiifano played his first official Brumbies game almost 12 months after his diagnosis, slipping on to the field in the second half of a clash against the Wellington Hurricanes.
Losing the match mattered little in the context of Lealiifano's moment. It was undoubtedly the heartwarming story of the decade.
2018-19: THE MCKELLAR ERA
Trying to replace Larkham was always going to be a daunting task. The champion playmaker and Wallabies hall of famer made the finals in each of the seasons he was in charge.
But Dan McKellar, a former Queensland prop, served his apprenticeship and was given a chance to impress in the top job.'
With the controversy off the field finally over, McKellar set about rebuilding the Brumbies.
He took a stand for Canberra last year when he refused to rest David Pocock, Allan Alaalatoa and Scott Sio despite a request from the Wallabies.
It set up a club versus country tug of war and eventually led to Rugby Australia enforcing mandatory rest periods for Wallabies players before the 2019 World Cup.
McKellar's argument was wanting to have the best players on the field for home games as a mark of respect for Canberra fans.
Unfortunately for McKellar, Brumbies fans have been largely absent from the stands over the past two years.
While the coach will be judged by his win-loss numbers, and the Brumbies did make a grand final qualifier this year, the club is desperately trying to get fans in the stands.
Crowd numbers dropped to their lowest average point in 2018 and were only marginally better in 2019. The hope is they will slowly come back if McKellar's men can start winning consistently.
The retirements of Pocock and Lealiifano, as well as the departure of Henry Speight, Rory Arnold and Sam Carter will make that challenge even harder.
WHO COULD FORGET...
Brumbies and Wallabies warrior Pat McCabe, who had to retire after breaking his neck for a third time. He was brave to come back twice, but made a decision to put life before rugby after the third incident.
Ita Vaea had a similar choice to make when his leg turned white at training in 2012. Scans discovered a blood clot on his heart, and he was told he could have died he continued to play. Vaea eventually made a comeback and was even on the verge of a Wallabies call up when doctors found blood clots again in 2016. This time it was over for good.
There was ice on the field when the Brumbies shocked the world and beat the British and Irish Lions in 2013. The chilly Canberra night will go down as one of the greatest in ACT rugby history, with a team of non-Wallabies toppling the Lions 14-12. The Brumbies were the first provincial team to beat the Lions in 16 years.
The Brumbies took a stand against homophobia in a clash against the NSW Waratahs in 2015 after players told the referee about slurs. Several Brumbies players reported the issue, including captain Stephen Moore, but the debate centred largely around David Pocock because of his strong stance on several issues. Critics argued: "what happens on the field, stays on the field". Jacques Potgieter was eventually fined.
The Brumbies had an almost three-year wait between wins against New Zealand opponents. They beat the Wellington Hurricanes in round one of 2016, but didn't taste Kiwi success until June 2018. It was part of a disastrous period for Australian teams in trans-Tasman battles. The next challenge is snapping a six-year drought in New Zealand
BY THE NUMBERS
8391: The average crowd in 2018, the lowest in the club's history.
855: The number of days between wins against New Zealand sides, lasting from February 2016 to June 2018.
97: Players made their Brumbies debut between 2010-19.
43: The number of games David Pocock played after missing almost three full seasons because of injury.
8: Wallabies captains played for the Brumbies in the past 10 years. Stirling Mortlock, George Smith, Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, Ben Mowen, Stephen Moore, Michael Hooper and James Slipper.
6: The number of coaches since 2010. Andy Friend, Tony Rea, Jake White, Stephen Larkham, Laurie Fisher and Dan McKellar.
5: The number of chief executives: Andrew Fagan, Doug Edwards, Michael Jones, Michael Thomson and Phil Thomson.
4: The Brumbies won the Australian conference in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
1: Grand final appearance in 2013, losing 27-22 to the Chiefs.
YEAR BY YEAR AT A GLANCE
2010: Played 13 - won 8, lost 5 (6th on the ladder)
2011: Played 16 - won 4, drew 1, lost 11 (13th on the ladder)
2012: Played 16 - won 10, lost 6 (7th on the ladder)
2013: Played 16 - won 10, drew 2, lost 4 (2nd on the ladder, lost grand final)
2014: Played 16 - won 10, lost 6 (4th on the ladder, lost semi-final)
2015: Played 16 - won 9, lost 7 (6th on the ladder, lost semi-final)
2016: Played 15 - won 10, lost 5 (4th on the ladder, lost quarter-final)
2017: Played 15 - won 6, lost 9 (4th on the ladder, lost quarter-final)
2018: Played 16 - won 7, lost 9 (10th on the ladder)
2019: Played 16 - won 10, lost 6 (lost semi-final)