There was, just a few years ago, a time when the Wallabies captain's job security was a non-issue. But, after six different leaders in 2023, the role started to resemble the merry-go-round of Prime Ministers that Australia rolled through midway through the last decade.
If there is a silver lining to take from last year's captaincy chaos, it is the fact that none were knifed from behind - as was the penchant of both major political parties some 10 years ago.
And, as Joe Schmidt confirmed once more yesterday, there is likely to be further change on the horizon, or at least a return to one of the players who wore the metaphorical armband in 2023.
But the appointment of Liam Wright for Saturday's Test with Wales has certainly got people talking, basically because his inclusion in the matchday 23, let alone as captain, was a major surprise.
In fact, those not au fait with the wider Australian playing cohort might well be left thinking: Liam who?
That is understandable given the last time Wright was sighted on the international scene was back in 2019, some three Wallabies coaches ago when Michael Cheika had the reins.
In the meantime, the man known to his Reds teammates as "Wrongers" has been grafting away, fighting his way back from a succession of serious injuries that had forced him to watch on from the sidelines in Queensland, thwarting any chance he had of earning a recall to the Test arena.
From a hamstring tear to syndesmosis, multiple shoulder injuries and a broken hand, Wright has endured more than his share of bad luck over the past four years.
That was until this season, when Wright and the Reds were reborn under first-year coach Les Kiss, the back-rower playing 15 of the team's 16 games as they finished fifth after the regular season and were then beaten in the quarterfinals.
"It's been tough because a lot of the injuries I don't look at as not being prepared, or not being ready," Wright said Friday at the Wallabies captain's run. "Doing a shoulder scoring a try, coming down from a lineout a bit funny and your ankle popping, things like that, it was stuff out of my control which took a lot of inward looking and soul searching to be able to put that [in the] past, let go of the anger and the bitterness and just move onto the next job.
"And one thing I think I really did learn which I think has helped my leadership probably is 'alright, I'm not able to play, but what can I do to support the boys and support the team', I feel like I've been able to bring that back now that I'm on the field and just have that as my soul mindset.
"And I feel recovery-wise, process-wise, all that sort of stuff, mentally, physically, I feel in a better place and I'm going to try and bring my all."
Teammates Fraser McReight and Hunter Paisami were often the players to earn the plaudits for the Reds' improvement -- which included victories over the Chiefs, Crusaders and Highlanders during the regular season -- while breakout star Tim Ryan's efforts in attack won't soon be forgotten.
But Wright is not that type of player. What the 89th Wallabies captain does embody is a workmanlike attitude and approach for which he is revered among his Reds teammates, and for which Schmidt has likely given him the job this week.
Late last year, it didn't take Wright long to make an impact on Kiss.
"Very early in the piece when I was in calculations for the Reds job I did my research and I could tell Liam had a great influence around the team," Kiss told ESPN. "I tapped into that leadership and had Liam join me as a 'coach' for the two Challenger games we had at the end of last season.
"I could see his strong, measured approach. He ran the lineout and helped instruct the forwards and continued for the Reds game against Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights.
"All the while, he was committed and persistent about his rehab from a shoulder injury.
"As a captain, he's clear and concise and doesn't waste words. It does not surprise me he has come back stronger than ever for the Reds.
"It's terrific for Liam to take on this great honour as Wallabies captain."
It may be that Wright is a one-and-done Wallabies captain, that the honour of leading Australia extends no further than Saturday night's Test in Sydney.
But you get the feeling that he is almost the prototype Schmidt player. And devoid of other options, whether it be because of form, injury or just straight-out suitability, Wright could emerge as the most unlikely of long-term leaders.
The Reds saw something in Wright to make him captain at just 22 years of age and four years on, after plenty of graft and persistence, he steps into that role for the Wallabies.
So while it may have comes as a shock, a complete bolt from the blue even, Wright's ascension to become the Wallabies' 89th captain does indeed make sense. And he now has the chance to leave his own mark on the job, for however long he has the honour.
Wright has picked himself up off the canvas multiple times over the past few years, and now the Wallabies must do the same after the debacle that was 2023.
That's what makes 'Wrongers' the right choice this week against Wales and, potentially, beyond.