The McLean family were an Australian rugby clan who between them played 77 Tests for the

Australian national rugby union team The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the ...

and a number of Tests for the

Australian national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

. The main grandstand at Ballymore, the home of the

Queensland Rugby Union The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Queensland in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. The QRU was founded in Brisbane in ...

, is named the McLean Stand in honour of the family's contribution to Queensland rugby and Australian rugby.

Doug McLean Sr.

Douglas James McLean (1880–1947) was the patriarch. He was a pioneer Australian representative

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player, a dual code international. He represented with the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

in 3 Tests and as a

Kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

in 2 Tests. Doug had three sons (Doug Jr., Bill, and Jack) who also played for Australia. Three of his grandsons did as well.

Doug McLean Jr.

Alexander Douglas McLean (1912–1961), played 10 Tests for the

between 1933 and 1936. He too was a dual code international, playing two

Tests on the wing and making the 1937

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

of Great Britain.

Bill McLean

William Malcolm McLean (1918–1996) played 5 Tests as captain of the Wallabies immediately after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was selected to lead the national side to tour

1947–48 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America Between July 1947 and March 1948 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour encompassing Ceylon, Britain, Ireland, France and the United States on which they played five Tests and thirty-six minor tour m ...

. He badly broke a leg early in the tour and did not play in any further Tests. As a captain in 2/3rd Commando Squadron (Australia) he saw action against the Japanese in

Jack McLean

Jack McLean was a member of the 1946 Wallaby team that toured New Zealand though he didn't make the Test XV.

Bob McLean

A fourth son of Doug McLean Sr was Bob McLean. He had two sons who won Test caps: Jeff and Paul.

Jeff McLean

Jeffrey James McLean (26 January 1948 – 6 August 2010Obituary for Jeff McLean
/ref>) played 13 times for the Wallabies between 1971 and 1974 on the wing. He debuted in 1971 against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

. His final Wallaby appearance in the 1st Test of 1974 against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

was also the representative debut of his younger brother Paul. He died in 2010, aged 62, from cancer.

Paul McLean

Paul Edward McLean born 12 Oct 1953 at

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich pre ...

was the most feted and successful footballer of the family. Paul was capped 31 times between 1974 and 1982, scoring 263 points for the Wallabies playing at fly-half, fullback or center. He made his Wallaby debut in the first Test of 1974 against the

.Meares (2002), pp. 164. Paul McLean was President of the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

between 2005 and 2009.

Peter McLean

Bill's son Peter William McLean born 8 Feb 1954 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Queensland also represented at lock for the Wallabies. He made 16 Test appearances between 1978 and 1982, playing 11 times alongside his cousin Paul. His Wallaby debut was in the first Test of 1978 against the

Sources

* ''The Spirit of Rugby 1995 (Collection of Essays)'', HarperCollins: Australia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean Family Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players McLean family (Australia) People educated at Brisbane State High School