League: Bluey words - McClennan sets the record straight

Former Kiwis coach Brian McClennan has guided the Leeds Rhinos to back-to-back titles in his first two seasons. Photo / Getty Images

It's hard to think of a potentially less rewarding coaching assignment than taking over a champion team. Win the title, and all you've done is equal your predecessor, who will doubtless get the credit for a good portion of your success. Anything less, and you've failed by comparison.

That was the situation Brian "Bluey" McClennan stepped into at Leeds Rhinos after his highly successful tenure as Kiwis coach ended in an acrimonious departure in 2007.

While McClennan was winning hearts, minds and even a trophy with the Kiwis in '05 and '06, present England coach Tony Smith was building the foundations for Leeds to become the new superpower of the British game.

McClennan's last game in charge of the Kiwis was a 30-6 Anzac test defeat in April 2007. Three months later he was confirmed as the Rhinos' new coach.

In October, Smith signed off at Leeds with his second title in four years. At a club that had endured a 32-year barren run, Smith's efforts set the bar high for the new man.

And McClennan had his doubters, this writer front and centre. Moulding a hand-picked Kiwis side into an effective unit was one thing.

But how would his skills transfer into the relentless grind of a lengthy British season? McClennan had enjoyed plenty of success at club level but, a minor role at the Warriors aside, it was in the semi-pro environment of little old New Zealand.

With all due respect to Hibiscus Coast and Mt Albert, Leeds exist on a different stratosphere.

"I guess I can coach then," he says when we meet at a recent charity luncheon he headlined, recounting a few tales about guiding the Rhinos to back-to-back titles in his first two seasons.

His comments are a reference to a Herald column suggesting he might struggle in England. Clearly he's not one to forget. "Never, mate," he says, tapping his head.

That said, the odd refresher clearly doesn't hurt. By the time we talk again for an interview a couple of days later he's dug out the piece and reread it. The benefits of time and distance haven't helped.

"Jeez, you were out of line there," he says.

It's probably not the questioning of his ability that rankles, rather the implication that his departure from the Kiwis for reasons that included an alleged unwillingness to work with the incoming regime of Andrew Chalmers and Graham Lowe suggested he wasn't a team player, that he needed to have everything his own way.

Time to set the record straight, then?

"I'm not going to be talking about what went on back then," he says. "There was nothing I could do about that situation in '07. I was hamstrung. The fact is had I not got [the Leeds job], I wouldn't have been coaching the Kiwis anyway."

History would suggest McClennan was right, regardless of his reasons. Chalmers quickly fell on his sword after talking big but delivering little - other than a severely diminished bank balance - and his successor Gary Kemble was a disaster. Still, any regrets?

"I'm really comfortable with my contribution to the Kiwis. If it can be looked back upon that the '05-'06 period was a pretty good period for the Kiwis then I am proud to say I was a part of it."

His success at Leeds is no surprise to those who know him best.

McClennan's upbringing - his father Mike won six Fox titles and went on to coach St Helens - and his grounding set him up for success, former mentor John Ackland says.

"When you look at Brian he has actually grown up around rugby league since he was a baby, really. He would have been one of those kids who was in dressing rooms and around teams since he was old enough to walk. That has resulted in him becoming a league nut - I think tragic is the modern term.

"He has got a great ability to pick up vibes off players and to understand what they are thinking. He puts a lot of trust in his players but he will only go with players he believes in. That belief sometimes becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy."

Having cut his teeth with minnows Hibiscus Coast, who he guided from the Auckland third division to Bartercard Cup winners, McClennan was also well accustomed to making something out of nothing.

"He is an absolute master at extracting the maximum from resources," Ackland says. "So when he gets himself in a situation at Leeds where they have got some resources then, f***ing hell, the wind is at his back. He has extracted stuff from Hibiscus coast for Christ's sake."

McClennan agrees his upbringing was the key to his success.

"I've come through the system in New Zealand, yes, but you look at where I've come from and who me father is, there is a bit more to it," he says.

"I've learned at the kitchen table sitting down with the old fella. And I've been able to sit at a table and talk with John Ackland and Graeme Norton - they'd be three of the best coaches possibly that New Zealand has ever had in terms of working out of this country. So I've been pretty lucky.

"I'd love to see other people get that opportunity. We have just got to build the game within our own country. We are never going to have an NRL or a Super League but do we have to? Can't we just have a real strong domestic competition. We used to have one."

So what next for a coach whose achievements have finally silenced the doubters? A Kiwis return is highly unlikely. Stephen Kearney's long-term appointment is precisely what the national team needed, McClennan says. And besides, he's ticked that box.

"We are really settled but one day we will have to come home. Whenever Leeds get sick of us and say it's time for a change then I am going to have to look for employment somewhere else.

"One day down the track I'd love to be part of a club winning the NRL - but that is further down the track."

Yeah, well, Super League is one thing, pal, the NRL quite another. Just kidding, Bluey. Just kidding.