One memory, one scene, one reaction will be forever remembered from this appalling Super Rugby fiasco.
No, it's not of those smug Australian Rugby Union [ARU] suits and ties types trying to blame everyone but themselves for this sad, sorry and very silly mess they have dumped themselves into.
It will instead be the emotional moment involving one of the most honest rugby players Australia has produced.
Shortly after easily the most entertaining match of the last Super Rugby round, the Force captain Matt Hodgson fronted the media after beating the Kings in Perth, and was close to tears, choking up when explaining how gut-wrenching it was to know his team was now squarely in the ARU firing line.
This was raw emotion. But you would expect nothing less from such a raw character. Rugby is the domain of the toff, the white-collar spiv who thrives in the intense and often claustrophobic networking of the private school game. Hodgson has instead been the proud representative of the tough blue-singlet workers who also follow the code.
Hodgson is a grafter. He is unfashionable. He is not a flashy openside backrower. He is a burrower. An irritating yapping cattle dog- a crazy kelpie who is endlessly gnawing away at his opponents. He is an out and out pest. He is fearless. The ultimate hard worker, who spits in his hands and then madly hammers away at the anvil. And he always gets the job done.
Having been with the Force since its inception in 2006, every game that he has run out for them- and it's now over the 130 mark- he has put absolutely everything into. Quite often, he has left the field completely exhausted. In the fractured history of the Force, he has probably been their best, most consistent player. Certainly, their most respected.
As he was around at the same time as such No 7 international masters as David Pocock, Michael Hooper and George Smith, Hodgson was never going to be a regular Test player. But a lot of Wallaby coaches loved having him part of the squad, because unlike some of their high-profile members, Hodgson was forever committed. He would never let you down. Coaches would point at Hodgson, and say to the lazy and content: "That's what I want from you. Heart."
As Neville Wran famously said: 'Balmain boys don't cry.'
Well boys from NSW's Central Coast- where Hodgson hails from- are permitted to cry when the national body that is supposed to be representing them and protecting them treat his province with such contempt- and then add to the anguish by prolonging the execution process.
The ARU Board should be forced to watch the Hodgson press conference video over and over again. Here you see the heart and soul of the game absolutely gutted. Here you see someone who has been let down badly by those in charge.
After talking about a province that 'gave me my opportunity,' Hodgson had to check himself when explaining that he had brought his family to Perth.
"Being a parent myself, you don't know where to put your kid now. Do I put him in rugby or stay in Western Australia playing AFL? So it's frustrating and I think the way it's been done is probably the most annoying thing. It's dragged on."
Dragged on!!! Hodgson is being nice. The embarrassing way the ARU has handled this has inadvertently put the Force, Brumbies and Rebels players, officials and their fans on the torture rack for weeks on end. Through the ARU's inactivity, too many people have been forced to suffer for far too long. And you can excuse any of them from not just walking but sprinting away from Australian Rugby.
So, this week we had the ARU annual general meeting. In attendance was Brett Papworth, who was there as Sydney Rugby Union vice-president. Like many, the former Wallaby is sceptical that the money the ARU save from getting rid of one Australian team will go to 'grassroots' rugby.
He told the Daily Telegraph after the meeting that leadership changes were required. "What I saw at the AGM, the board sat up there, most said not one word," Papworth told the Telegraph.
'They're all from the corporate end of town but if we had to talk share price (of the ARU) it would be in the toilet. Yet nothing happens. That's the issue for the rugby community.
"It's the same people making the same decisions and talking to all the same people. So nothing ever changes. That's the view of the rugby community."
As for those on the ARU Board. You can have them.
Give me Matt Hodgson any day. He is a fair dinkum worker, won't let you down and is involved in rugby for the right reasons. He doesn't deserve such shoddy treatment.