NSW Waratahs winger Drew Mitchell wants to mark his 100th Super Rugby appearance by ending a horrific recent run for the state’s league and union sides.
Queensland product Mitchell will return home to play his milestone game in Saturday’s final-round clash at Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds have a slim chance of making the finals with a bonus-point win, while NSW are out of contention.
Seven clearly isn’t a lucky number for the success-starved NSW league and union teams.
“We (the Waratahs) have lost seven games in a row – the (rugby league) Blues have lost seven series in a row,” Mitchell said.
“It’s been a pretty lean time up there at Suncorp for any New South Welshmen.
“Maybe it’s time that we had some type of success up at Suncorp, hopefully that’s the case.
“We’ve got enough motivation at the moment to go out there and be up for this game, whether it’s the Reds or not.
“It’s not about us trying to spoil their year or anything like that.”
Mitchell has accumulated his century across three franchises, the Reds, Force and Waratahs, though injuries stalled his progress over the past two seasons.
“It’s taken me 16 or 17 months to get the last four, but it was always something that I wanted to achieve,” Mitchell said.
“I had four years there (with Queensland) and I guess the irony is it’s my 100th this weekend and I get to play where it started.”
Mitchell has played just five club and Super Rugby games since returning from an ankle injury and wants to get more involved.
“I wouldn’t say I’m at my peak in terms of fitness. That’s never something that was realistically going to come at his point, but it’s getting closer,” Mitchell said.
“I’m starting to feel more confident and the more confidence you have, the more involved you get.”
He believes he is still a chance of playing in the Rugby Championship starting next month.
“There’s still some time before that kicks off and we’ve got one more game of Super Rugby and, potentially, there’s an option of playing a couple of club game after that,” Mitchell said.
He said there was no easy fix for a NSW team that have won only four of 15 games.
“The thing for us is we’ve just got to understand we don’t have to change our game entirely – we’re doing a lot of good things,” Mitchell said.