On January 18, the question was put to the Queensland Rugby Union that perhaps the person they should be appointing to succeed Brad Thorn as Reds head coach was Dan McKellar, formerly of the Brumbies and, at that point, still an assistant Wallabies coach.
That was just three days after Eddie Jones had been appointed to replace Dave Rennie as Wallabies head coach for the next five years, a position which McKellar had expressed interest in.
He was ripe for a Queensland approach yet back came the response from Ballymore that McKellar would only be in the mix. “But our current Wallabies would have a strong view”, read the texted reply.
It was a jaw-dropping response. The Reds’ contingent in the Wallabies has been shrinking dramatically in recent years, long before McKellar even served as a selector. And when he was asked to help choose the team and favoured the Brumbies, form would suggest he was perfectly entitled. The fact Jones subsequently has only chosen four Reds in his 33-man squad surely says it all.
But the more important question was surely, “Why was the QRU allowing its players to decide who would coach them, especially as they have been underperforming for a number of seasons?”
It is obvious that McKellar was never seriously considered because he would have ruffled feathers. No one quite knows why McKellar has fallen out with the QRU. True, he was never awarded a Queensland cap despite spending 2005-06 as a Reds front-rower, but McKellar always insists he understands why coach Jeff Miller preferred Rodney Blake and Greg Holmes as his props.
The Reds were lukewarm on Dan McKellar, who has now headed north to coach Leicester.Credit: Getty
Instead, like Bob Dwyer, Rod Macqueen and John Connolly before him, he channelled his personal disappointment into proving himself as a coach.
In time, he turned the Brumbies into the dominant force in Australian rugby, much to Queensland’s displeasure. The only hiccup was in the COVID-affected year of 2021 when Thorn’s Reds beat the ACT in the Aussie-only grand final. It was a result driven largely by two things: a desire to put McKellar in his place, and Taniela Tupou’s scrummaging.
So, the phone call to McKellar was never made, despite the fact he lives only 13km from Ballymore. And on February 22, the news broke that Leicester had signed him as head coach. McKellar had always said he would have found it difficult to coach against the Brumbies side that he had built but, at the end of the day, he is a professional rugby coach.
As the season got under way, all the talk was that Queensland had already anointed Mick Heenan, Thorn’s assistant, as the next head coach. It was only when the season went belly-up that people began to wonder whether Heenan was being pushed too far, too fast.
Only four Reds made the cut in the returned Eddie Jones’ Brumbies-heavy Wallabies squad.Credit: Getty
Moreover, will his experience of coaching University two nights a week and on game day properly have prepared him for the rigours of Super Rugby? The Reds are fraying at the edges, unravelling everywhere. They are unfit and being found out, but is Heenan the man to fix them?
There has been off-field stupidity in the coach’s box, as was evident against the Brumbies on Good Friday. Two examples: Angus Blyth was selected at lock because of Ryan Smith’s indiscipline yet within eight minutes had committed one of the worst fouls of recent years? And why was Tate McDermott, one of the few Reds’ threats, subbed off after 58 minutes?
But on the field, the Reds are showing signs of being too tightly knit. They have all grown up together and no one holds another teammate to account. Captain McDermott said post-match he would leave any recriminations to the team room on Monday but that’s not what the fans needed to hear. They needed to hear him growling.
A little later co-captain Liam Wright admitted that “it” – the team’s indiscipline and the problems flowing from that – “thrust a lot of pressure on our coaching team, which we’re not happy with.”
It is time for the Reds’ six-man leadership to start laying down the law to irresponsible teammates. Or make way for someone who will.
True. The coaches aren’t entirely to blame. It is time for the six-man leadership, McDermott, Wright, and four others, to start seriously laying down the law to irresponsible teammates. Or make way for someone who will.
The Reds have chosen not to take immediate action on Thorn, delaying their mid-season review until they have the bye following this weekend’s match against Moana Pasifika in Apia.
The theory is that if Thorn stands down, Heenan would have the remainder of the season to prove himself. If he doesn’t, then there are no guarantees.
Another Queenslander, Tim Sampson, the former Western Force coach now doing an outstanding job as Kevin Foote’s assistant at the Melbourne Rebels, has been mentioned as a possible alternate.
Sampson undoubtedly has more experience than Heenan but the QRU needs to be wary it doesn’t burn two rising coaches in one hit.
What is needed now is a coach to make hard decisions, not someone to mollycoddle a Queensland side that lost its game plan when Tupou became injured.
