A coffee with Dan McKellar in Bowral ignites ACT Brumbies Irae Simone and Tom Wright's dream

Yet deep in the heart of Bowral is where ACT Brumbies coach Dan McKellar and assistant Peter Hewat pulled off two of their most astute recruiting coups.

Because the man before them on separate trips to a town halfway between Canberra and Sydney was anything but a bona fide football star.

Irae Simone was a NSW Waratah who struggled for minutes behind Kurtley Beale, ready to roll of the dice in search of a fresh start.

Tom Wright was a former schoolboy rugby union prodigy before earning an NRL debut with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. But the lure of the code he grew up in was strong, perhaps so too the chance to one day turn out for the Wallabies.

MORE BRUMBIES NEWS

His Wikipedia page might tell you he was born in Wokingham, a small market town west of London, and that he "set the world record for fasted half marathon [and] more recently he found out he was Australian".

But he is a Sydneysider hailing from Randwick, and like Simone he was captivated by McKellar's vision for the Brumbies when he met with the two players halfway along the highway.

Now the pair find themselves in a Super Rugby AU grand final against the Queensland Reds at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

Beyond that, Wallabies jerseys await after they were named in coach Dave Rennie's national squad.

"I had no doubt Simone had the ability to play for Australia," McKellar said.

"He just needed to be surrounded by people that showed him a bit of love, and showed belief and confidence in him.

"That's what we've done from day one, and he needed to make some adjustments and work hard. He's done that, and Wrighty is the same.

"Irae has listened to feedback we've given him, he's in the best shape of his life, and off the back of that hard work and discipline he has shown away from the club, it has allowed him to perform consistently well, week in, week out.

"Even he would say last year that wasn't the case. He has worked hard on getting himself into a position that would allow him to play well at Super Rugby and international level.

"He's also worked really hard on his physicality. He has always had outstanding skills and vision, and ability to see space, but now he plays nice and physically as well in carry and in defence. At breakdowns he is a real threat."

Simone is now on the Brumbies' books until the end of 2022, while Wright brushed interest from circling rugby league clubs to re-sign with the ACT franchise for 2021.

Wright enters the grand final ranked second on the competition's leading try-scorers list with five, behind Queensland counterpart Filipo Daugunu [six].

Daugunu has caused opposition defensive lines headaches all season, beating more defenders and making more clean breaks than any other player in the tournament.

But Wright sits just one break behind him in second, and he will stop at nothing to split Queensland's line in search of a drought-breaking championship.

"It was obvious he had a skill set that was pretty special, his ability to beat defenders one on one and create something out of nothing," McKellar said.

"We looked at him in the midfield first and foremost, but he has found a position on the wing where it suits what he brings naturally as a footballer.

"He has had to relearn rugby union and how it's played at a professional level. He's done a whole lot of work on the computers, watching vision, and that's allowed his progression to accelerate really quickly.

"You want to see guys like that have success and he deserves it."

SUPER RUGBY AU GRAND FINAL

Saturday: ACT Brumbies v Queensland Reds at Canberra Stadium, 7.15pm.