Tom Staniforth has been named in the Brumbies pre-season leadership group without even having a Super Rugby contract.

Tom Staniforth has been named in the Brumbies pre-season leadership group without even having a Super Rugby contract. Photo: Jay Cronan



Tom Staniforth has yet to realise his dream of signing a Super Rugby contract with the ACT Brumbies, but that hasn't stopped the province from making the 19-year-old part of its pre-season leadership group.


With most of the senior Brumbies players on the Wallabies' spring European tour, Staniforth is one of 11 development players doing pre-season training with the Super Rugby runner-up.


But he's also been given the opportunity to learn leadership skills from some of the best in the business - recovering Wallabies David Pocock (knee) and Pat McCabe (neck).


Staniforth's dream is to one day put those skills to use in playing Super Rugby.


''It's pretty flattering and I'm pretty lucky that [the Brumbies] trust me and want to develop me,'' Staniforth said. ''I'm just looking at it as a major development path and trying to learn off the players.''


Laurie Fisher, the Brumbies' director of rugby, said the reasons for putting Staniforth into the leadership group was twofold - it gave the development players representation, and it was the perfect opportunity to give Staniforth experience.


Fisher said the Brumbies saw the 19-year-old mainly as a lock who could also play at blindside flanker.


''He's got a fantastic attitude to training and developing, so to try and provide an opportunity for a guy like that at this stage of his career, it'll bode well,'' he said.