Shaun McRae (born 21 December 1959) is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

coach, who is a former director of rugby at Hull F.C. after a spell with the Salford City Reds.

Career

Shaun McRae, nicknamed 'Bomber', was born in 1959 and began his

coaching career as an assistant for the Canberra Raiders in the mid-late 1980s. He was later appointed head coach with St Helens (1996–1998) in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, where he won the Coach of the Year award in 1996. He coached his team to victory in the

1996 Challenge Cup The 1996 Challenge Cup was the 95th staging of the Challenge Cup tournament. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Silk Cut, it was the first Challenge Cup of the summer era. The tournament featured 40 teams playing 42 g ...

and

Super League I The year 1996's Stones Bitter Super League I was the official name for the 102nd season of top-level rugby league football, and the first year of Europe's new championship: Super League. It is also the first season of rugby league to be played ...

championship. His St Helens team also won the

1997 Challenge Cup The 1997 Challenge Cup, known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 96th staging of the Challenge Cup, a European rugby league cup competition. The competition ended with the final on 3 May 1997, which was played at Wem ...

. McRae was also the head trainer and unofficial assistant coach to

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

coach

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and commentated on the game with great success at the highest ...

during the

1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1990 Kangaroo Tour was the seventeenth Kangaroo Tour, where the Australian national rugby league team (known as the XXXX Kangaroos due to sponsorship reasons) travelled to Europe and played eighteen matches against British and French cl ...

. At the end of 1998 McRae moved to the now defunct Gateshead Thunder club. He then joined Hull in October 1999, staying there until 2004. He returned to Australia and joined the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

in 2004. He returned to the NRL with a 61.1% success rate in Super League. Under McRae South Sydney finished the

2005 NRL season The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Tels ...

level on 23 premiership points with 2004 premiers the

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

. He was replaced at the

by Jason Taylor after the 2006 season with a final winning success rate of exactly 25%. The 2006 season was seen as a transitional phase for the club, with the loss of senior players such as Bryan Fletcher,

Ashley Harrison Ashley Harrison (born 18 May 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. A Queensland State of Origin representative lock forwar ...

and Scott Logan, however with the club getting the wooden spoon for the third time in five seasons, he was asked to make way for outgoing

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

coach Jason Taylor, who had been hired to replace McRae's previous assistant, Arthur Kitinas. He moved upstairs to the position of director of rugby at the South Sydney Rabbitohs. However, in late 2006 it emerged that he would be leaving his new role, feeling that he still had much to offer as a head coach. McRae has worked on Sky Sports with Eddie Hemmings and Mike 'Stevo' Stephenson. In early 2007 he was installed as the favourite to succeed Brian Noble to become the full-time coach of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

but the job went to Tony Smith. McRae then took over from

Karl Harrison Karl Harrison (born 20 February 1964) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for both Great Britain and England, and at ...

at the Salford City Reds on 11 June 2007. In 2008 after failing to save the Reds from relegation from the Super League, McRae led the Salford side to triple success in the National League, winning the

Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's British rugby league system, Rugby League Champ ...

, the League Leaders Trophy and the Grand Final and saw his team gain a licence for re-admittance to the Super League for 2009. Shaun McRae has been off with an undisclosed illness for most of the 2011 season and the club had announced that he will not be extending his contract after it finishes at the end of the current season. Shaun has since agreed to terminate employment, in a mutual agreement with the club. The Salford City Reds are now looking for a new head coach to take them forward in the new stadium in the 2012 season. As of September 2011, he has returned to Hull FC as director of rugby after agreeing terms with Hull FC owner Adam Pearson. McRae's arrival was followed by the unveiling of new head coach

Peter Gentle Peter Gentle (born ) is a former Australian rugby league coach and former footballer who played in the 1980s. Gentle is currently the Recruitment Manager of Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Club career A halfback and St. George junior, Gentle playe ...

(formerly assistant-coach of the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

), who took over from

Richard Agar Richard Agar (born 20 January 1972) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the former head coach of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He play ...

. Shaun McRae was involved in bringing in a number of new signings for the 2012 season, including; Andy Lynch (

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Brett Seymour Brett Seymour (born 27 September 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. His career has been marked with controversy with several claims of misconduct and violence towards women. Since retiring from professional rugb ...

(

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

Wade McKinnon Wade McKinnon (born 12 February 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. His position of preference was as a fullback. Playing career Early years Educated at St Dominic's College, P ...

(Wests Tigers),

Aaron Heremaia Aaron Aspin Heremaia (born ) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a goal-kicking or for the Widnes Vikings in the Super League. Background Heremaia was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Playing career ...

(

), Eamon O'Carroll (

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

), Martin Aspinwall (

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

), Tony Martin (

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

) and Jamie Ellis (

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

References

External links

McRae favourite for Salford roleMcRae interested in GB coach roleGB Captain Paul Sculthorpe backs Shaun McRae for roleSacked McRae stays at RabbitohsMcRae extends South Sydney stayHull confirm McRae exitRLWC 2000 – Scotland ProfileShaun McRae quotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:McRae, Shaun 1959 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Gateshead Thunder (1999) coaches Hull F.C. coaches Salford Red Devils coaches South Sydney Rabbitohs coaches Sportspeople from Sydney Scotland national rugby league team coaches St Helens R.F.C. coaches