Brian G. McDermott (born in Wakefield, Yorkshire) is an English professional rugby league football coach and former player. He started as Head Coach of Harlequins RL of Super League on 8 July 2006 and departs on 4 September 2010.
[edit] Biography
McDermott was a Royal Marine for five years before playing professional rugby league.
[edit] Playing career
Played Amateur Rugby league as a junior for Eastmoor RLFC McDermott joined Bradford Bulls in 1994, where he stayed for 10 years. He played mainly in the Prop position at the Bulls.
In the 1997 post season, McDermott was selected to play for Great Britain at prop forward in all three matches of the Super League Test series against Australia.
After ending his playing career in 2004, McDermott moved into coaching. He had spells on the coaching staff at fellow Super League clubs Huddersfield Giants and Leeds Rhinos before accepting his first top-flight head coaching role at Quins RL in July 2006, replacing Tony Rea.
[edit] Coaching career
Brian McDermott won his first ever match as a Head Coach against Castleford. He went on to claim 5 wins and 4 losses in 2006. His record was boosted by the fact that he won three of these games by two or less points to take Quins to a very flattering seventh position in what was a season long battle against relegation with safety only certain with a couple of games to go.
In 2007, McDermott's team won at St Helens away at the start of the season. His luck from 2006 was not followed up with narrow wins being replaced by a series of home draws and he also saw him team lose the only tryless game in Super League history at Salford, 5-2. The club won just 9 games and finished 9th but was competitive in the main.
He started 2008 started with a heavy home loss to Wigan but then gained four successive wins before being smashed at Leeds. The promising start evaporated and the club again won just 9 games, finishing 9th. The victory again Leeds was his best result of the season but a crushing home defeat to Castleford was his worst.
In 2009 the season saw Harlequins with 9 wins from 15 out of the first 16 rounds on 12 June 2010 and up to fourth place. These early results saw Warrington thrashed 60-8 plus Harlequins win away to Leeds and Hull KR, but also four wins against the newly promoted Celtic Crusaders and Salford clubs which helped show a strong record.
After 12 June, McDermott saw his side collapse with only one further win - away at Bradford on 2 August 2009 - from the last 12 games of the season. Supporters had grown used to a second half of the season decline but the fall from fourth to eleventh was not expected. The long series of embarrassing home defeats including losing an 8 point lead to Salford with four minutes to go, a 0-48 loss to Castleford and the Bradford home defeat which included a 0-36 reverse at half-time. This gave an overall of 11 wins from 27 games.
In 2010, the continuation of Brian's tenure was not entirely supported and the club won just the third game of the season against Catalans from all the first eleven games. This took his record to just two wins from twenty three games. Perhaps the biggest shock in the 15th season of Super League was the comeback from the halftime 6-24 reverse to win away at Wigan in round 12. He then signed Kevin Penny on loan and won four out of five games. After this run ended on 1 May and as in 2009 it was 9 July before the next win and another 6 weeks later before a late try took the two points on 14 August against Catalans. This gave him 6 wins from 26 games, with a last match against Warrington to come.
By the end of 2010, McDermott had won just 40 games from a total of very close to 120 games and seen the club decline from 7th to 9th, 9th again, 11th and then to a position between 12th and 14th and was out of contract in July 2011. 7 wins from 38 games made a contract renewal implausible and it was no surprise that there was no offer of a new contract at Quins. He was declined by Bradford and England as Head Coach and he eventually chose to rejoin the Leeds Rhinos on the support staff to Brian McClennan in his old job and return to his native Yorkshire to rejoin with his family. Soon after joining he became head coach. Brian McDermott worked as assistant to Tony Smith and has played under the likes of Brian Smith, Matthew Elliott and Brian Noble at Bradford
On 25 October 2010, following the resignation of Brian McClennan, it was announced that Brian McDermott would take over as head coach at Headingley on a three-year contract.
[edit] International honours
Brian McDermott won a cap for England while at Bradford Bulls in 2001 against Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Bradford Bulls in 1996 against Fiji, and in 1997 against Australia (SL) (3 matches).[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The Club |
|
|
| Home grounds |
|
|
| League |
|
|
| Honours |
|
|
| Seasons |
|
|
| Coaches |
|
|
| Captains |
|
|
| Affiliation |
|
|
| Persondata |
| Name |
McDermott, Brian |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
English rugby league player and coach |
| Date of birth |
16 March 1970 |
| Place of birth |
Wakefield, England |
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
