Talk golden generation in ACT rugby circles and you're usually talking Smiths, Larkhams, Gregans and Roffs.
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But what about Billy Pollard, once an in-demand rugby league prospect courted by coaching gurus Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy? Or Harry Vella, the third-choice loosehead ready to shoulder expectation in a Super Rugby quarter-final, or Tom Hooper, the lock who once called himself a big block of meat?
These three, and an incoming rugby league convert named Joseph Sua'ali'i, were a part of a team hailed as the flagbearers for Australian rugby's next golden generation - the schoolboys side which snapped a seven-year drought against New Zealand in 2019.
Pollard and Vella started in the front-row while Hooper started at lock - just as they will for the ACT Brumbies in a Super Rugby quarter-final against the Otago Highlanders at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
"I think 'Hoops' was about 20 kilos heavier [back then]," Pollard grinned.
"He was obviously really good back then, you could obviously see the potential of both of those guys.
"It's been quite a tough run for [Vella] with his knee last year. I know he has been itching for an opportunity like this so I've got no doubt he will be taking it with both hands.
![Three former Junior Wallabies teammates will combine in a sudden-death quarter-final. Picture by Karleen Minney Three former Junior Wallabies teammates will combine in a sudden-death quarter-final. Picture by Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/dbacd460-9bb5-4795-ada5-880639162ab7.png/r0_4_1717_1069_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's pretty rare I suppose, to be able to now play with them on a week to week basis. It's really exciting for myself and something we really didn't think would happen. It's really nice to be able to share the field with them."
Pollard and Hooper are already capped Wallabies at 22 and 23 years old respectively. Vella is a highly-regarded prospect backed to cover for Test-capped props James Slipper and Blake Schoupp to start the finals series.
Before long they may well be Wallabies mainstays - and so too could Sua'ali'i as the NSW State of Origin centre prepares to make the switch to rugby on a big-money deal from next season.
"I think he was about 16 at the time [we played Australian schoolboys together] too, and he absolutely killed it," Pollard said. "He's always had that freak athletic ability."
But before they start thinking of more Wallabies Tests, members of that Australian schoolboys connection will look to do something no Brumbies team has done since that golden generation of the early 2000s.
The Brumbies are chasing their first full Super Rugby title since 2004, with a domestic title four years ago the closest feat since.
The ACT need a quarter-final win against the Highlanders to keep the dream alive with a trip or two across the Tasman likely to then stand between the Brumbies and the ultimate prize.
"Nerves are to be expected but we have a very experienced group of guys who have been there before. A lot of the younger guys will just rely on them for a bit of guidance," Pollard said.
"We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. Particularly for myself, it's my first finals game. We want to do our job and not get too excited out there, you don't want to let your emotions get the best of you. We'll be trying to stay calm and do whatever is needed.
"The intensity always lifts up whenever you have a finals game approaching. It's been more or less a similar week in terms of training, but the intensity, particularly around collisions and set piece, is really simplified."