Josh McKay has already lifted one trophy this season, but he admits his Player of the Year prize from the club’s awards dinner would play second fiddle to a United Rugby Championship winners medal if Glasgow Warriors can go all the way this season.
New Zealand-born McKay was named the club’s Player of the Year after an outstanding season in which he’s been virtually ever-present at fullback, and scored seven tries in the process.
While he was delighted to accept the award, he played down the significance of an individual award in a team sport.
The 26-year-old said: “It’s always nice to be recognised but individual accolades aren’t why we play rugby.
“Everything is about the team and at the end of the day they’ve got to single someone out. It is nice that it’s me but it’s not why I turn up every day.”
Rather than celebrate his own achievement, the former Highlanders and Crusaders man is keen to ensure Glasgow can celebrate their own triumph come the end of the month.
He added: “The motivation is to win silverware.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves - we've got to take it one game at a time but even from day one of pre-season that’s what we’ve been working for.”
That journey into knockout rugby starts when Stormers visit Scotstoun on Saturday evening, and it is a challenge the former New Zealand age-grade cap is relishing.
“I can’t wait for Stormers,” he said.
“It feels like getting into the quarter-finals has been a long time coming.
“We know what they bring, they are a big physical side and they’ve got plenty of X Factor attacking players, so we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”
McKay’s experience of playing Super Rugby before he made the move north in the summer of 2021 means he knows exactly what to expect from this weekend’s oppositon.
“They are still playing closer to a Super Rugby brand that is pretty fast and attacking minded.”
With Scotland’s Ollie Smith sidelined with a knee injury, McKay has played 19 of Glasgow’s 24 games in all competitions. He’s well rested after sitting out the win over Zebre last Friday night too.
McKay is keen to repay the faith shown in him by head coach Franco Smith and his staff.
He continued: “It has been good to be heavily involved. Knowing that the coaches have got our backs is awesome – we've got the license to go out there and not worry about making mistakes. They just want us to express ourselves."
If Glasgow do overcome the inaugural URC champions, a meeting with Munster could lie in store in the last four. That would offer a chance at revenge following the Irish side’s win at Scotstoun in the quarter-finals 12 months ago – the last time Glasgow lost a league game at home.
But whether it be Graeme Rowntree’s defending champions in Cork, or a home clash with Ospreys, McKay refused to be drawn on a preferred route to the final.
He said: “I’m not going to look too far ahead. We’ve got a big job to do this weekend.
“We’ll focus on what we can control regardless of the opposition. It is nice having a home quarter-final. We love playing at Scotstoun because our fans really get behind us.
“It is a shame we didn’t finish higher because it would have been nice to ride it out here in Glasgow, but one game at a time is how we’ve got to play play-off footie.“
Despite a recent dip in performances, and with back-to-back defeats in South Africa all-but ending the chances of the URC final being played in Scotland, McKay insists the Warriors have made great strides in Smith’s second year in charge.
“I think we’ve come a long way this season,” he said
"Last season, in pre-season especially, Franco was trying to get us all on the same path, and when a new coach comes in it does take a bit of time.
“Coming into this season we knew how he wanted us to play and we were able to hit the ground running.
“We’ve really been able to go from strength to strength and we’ve played consistently a lot better.
“We have had a couple of blips this season but I think as a whole we’ve been a lot more consistent."
An optimistic character, he’s keen to stress those “blips” will be put behind the Warriors from here on in.
He also believes it has helped sharpen the focus of the Glasgow squad.
McKay continued: “If you keep pumping opposition, complacency can slip in. With having those blips later in the season, it has tightened us as a group and meant we’ve been more diligent with our prep. Training at the moment is as good as it’s been all season.”
Nine years ago, as Al Kellock lifted the Pro12 trophy in Belfast on the most famous day in Glasgow’s history, McKay was a teenager back in his native New Zealand.
He hopes that by the end of the month, his name will etched into the club’s folklore alongside the class of 2015.
“Winning silverware is a big part of why most people play. It’s why I am here.
“Winning a trophy would be awesome. I think you can see by the hard work the boys put in that it is a massive driving factor.
“We’ve been doing everything we can to put ourselves in the best spot to put out a performance we can be proud of on Saturday.
“We want to go and do what they did and lift the trophy.”
Tickets for Saturday's quarter-final between Glasgow Warriors and Stormers are now on sale at www.glasgowwarriors.org
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