Eccentric. Intense. Unconventional. Uncompromising. When it comes to Brian McDermott, those are just some of the words that describe England’s new head coach.
Born and bred in Wakefield, it is perhaps fitting that McDermott is taking his country into a World Cup just two weeks after Trinity ended a 58-year wait for a championship with a Super League Grand Final victory over Warrington Wolves. Wakefield made history at Old Trafford. Now the 56-year-old will seek to do the same in Australia.
Appointed in April to succeed Shaun Wane as England head coach, McDermott might have had six months to prepare for the tournament in theory.
In reality, he has had no games with his team and will have just four field sessions with his players before their World Cup opener against Tonga in Perth on 17 October. In terms of preparation, it could be said that the former Super League prop has been handed a mission impossible.
But someone who served in Northern Ireland and Iraq during the first Gulf War is not afraid of difficult situations. Nor is he unaccustomed to success.
At Leeds Rhinos, where McDermott was head coach from 2011 to 2018, the club enjoyed a golden eight-season run that brought four Super League Grand Final victories, a League Leaders’ Shield and two Challenge Cups, including a historic treble in 2015.
Perhaps one of his greatest achievements, however, was beating NRL champions Manly Sea Eagles in the 2012 World Club Challenge, demonstrating that he knows a thing or two about overcoming Australia’s best.
That is precisely what he and his England side will need to do Down Under, where group-stage games against Tonga, France and Papua New Guinea await.
With the World Cup reduced from 16 teams in 2022 to just 10 this time, there is no quarter-final stage and little margin for error. Lose to Tonga on Saturday and England’s campaign could be all but over barely 80 minutes after it begins.
England have never won the World Cup in their own right, with their only triumphs coming as Great Britain, in 1954, 1960 and 1972.
Few rugby league coaches have taken a more unconventional route to the top than the current Gold Coast Titans assistant.
After cutting his teeth as an amateur with local club Eastmoor Dragons in the 1980s, McDermott joined the Royal Marines at just 16.
As he told the Mantality podcast in 2019, part of his motivation was to escape a brutal upbringing in a Catholic family where he was the youngest of 10 children.
“It was a ‘do as I say’ upbringing,” he said. “You were not allowed to ask a question. And if you didn’t do something quick enough, it was normally dealt with with violence. Whether that be physical, or just the way people spoke to you… We got brought up like that.
“By the time I left home to sign up for the Royal Marines, I was this ball of aggression, anger and questions and no answers. And guess what, I joined the most violent bunch of men that’s ever going to work planet Earth.
“Weirdly, it’s almost the most disciplined, fittest, professional outfit you’re ever going to meet as well, and that’s probably what saved me. That’s probably what kept me sane.”
McDermott left the service in 1995, had one professional boxing bout and then forged a career as a tough, hard-working front-rower with Bradford Bulls.
Across nine years at Odsal, he made 250 appearances and helped the club win three Super League titles, three League Leaders’ Shields, two Challenge Cups and the 2002 World Club Challenge.
After hanging up his boots the following year, McDermott moved into assistant coaching roles with Huddersfield and Leeds, learning under Tony Smith, before being appointed head coach of Harlequins in 2006. After five seasons in the capital, he returned to the Rhinos and embarked on a golden run.
At Headingley, McDermott turned a team featuring stars such as Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire into a formidable collective.
Sinfield told The Guardian in 2012: “Brian’s the best coach I’ve had. His mix of man-management and his game plan is second to none. I can’t praise him enough; I’ve so much respect for him.”
McDermott’s time at Leeds was not without its setbacks. He was sacked in 2018, with spells at Toronto Wolfpack and Featherstone Rovers following.
Since 2023, he has been based in Australia, first as an assistant at Newcastle Knights and now with the Titans.
Those who know McDermott describe him as a complex character with many layers.
“He doesn’t suffer fools. He much prefers a direct question rather than an opinion, and you have to be able to back up any assertion,” an individual familiar with him told The i Paper.
“Brian’s very private about his military background, but was known for questioning reasons behind orders. He came late to full-time rugby league and made the most of his opportunity, but never really rated himself. He loves nature and likes to decompress by going into the forest by himself.”
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Outspoken. Driven. Unafraid of tough decisions or formidable challenges.
McDermott certainly has one on his hands now, having already made a major call by omitting Jake Connor from his first England squad.
But if England are to make an impression at this tournament, with the odds stacked against them, this unorthodox Yorkshireman with a knack for achievement might just be the perfect man for the job.