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'His legacy will be carried on': Brumbies eye dream farewell for outgoing boss

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa says much of his side’s motivation for the upcoming Super Rugby Pacific campaign is to give departing head coach Dan McKellar a fairytale farewell.

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McKellar will end his five-year tenure in charge of the Brumbies at the end of this season to take up a full-time role as forwards coach of the Wallabies.

The 45-year-old’s position with the Australian national side was one he first took on last year, but he will move into the role on a permanent basis later this year as the Wallabies continue to build towards next year’s World Cup in France.

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As such, McKellar will bring the curtain down on his lengthy stay at the Brumbies, which began when he joined the Canberra-based side as an assistant coach in 2014 before taking over from Stephen Larkham as head coach four years later.

Coincidentally, Larkham will succeed McKellar as Brumbies head coach in 2023 and 2024, but, for the time being, Alaalatoa is focused on ensuring “great, great things” for the latter in his final season at the franchise.

“As players, we want to make sure that, firstly in our preparation, we don’t leave no stone unturned because, for us, we want to finish on a high, and I think understanding that it is Dan’s last year, it’s a huge motivator for us,” Alaalatoa said.

“It’s something that we’ll probably remind each other of throughout the year, but, I think in terms of preparation, it just helps the boys to understand that, in order for us to get a win or to do great, great things for Dan in his last year, we’ve got to make sure that we prepare really well.

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“Dan definitely won’t bring it up in the team meeting, but I think it’s something that other coaches and myself can bring up throughout the year.”

The player-led consensus to send McKellar off in successful fashion is reflective of his standing within the Brumbies set-up and his quality as a coach.

Under his guidance, the Brumbies reached the 2019 Super Rugby semi-finals, claimed the inaugural Super Rugby AU title in 2020, finished as Super Rugby AU runners-up in 2021 and were one of only two Australian teams to register wins in last year’s Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.

Their title-winning domestic campaign in 2020 was the first time the Brumbies had won a piece of silverware since their 2004 Super 12 success.

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It’s easy to understand, then, why Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie headhunted McKellar to join the Australian coaching staff in a move that Alaalatoa said left him “devastated” for the Brumbies.

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In saying that, Alaalatoa – who, as a 53-test Wallabies tighthead prop, will continue to be coached by McKellar at test level – acknowledged that the Brumbies boss had “earned his stripes” for his new role.

“From a player [perspective] here, you’re obviously devastated that he has to leave, but every year that I’ve been of here at the Brumbies, Dan has been involved as well and, from my perspective, he’s helped me grow as a player and as a person,” he said.

“I know that through those eight-to-nine years, he’s been solely committed to the Brumbies and making sure that he’s doing every can to push this franchise forward, and I think that his legacy will definitely be carried on by coaches and players who’s left here afterward.

“I think he’s definitely earned his stripes for the [Wallabies] job, but I know that he is solely committed to the Brumbies season this year, making sure he does everything he can to help us as players to achieve our goal.”

McKellar reaffirmed his dedication to the Brumbies for the entirety of their Super Rugby Pacific season by outlining his intention of taking down “the best teams in the competition”.

The Brumbies kick their season off against the Western Force at HBF Park in Perth on February 19.

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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