Michael James McClennan (26 January 1944 – October 2019) was a New Zealand

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 ...

footballer and coach who played for the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

And Michael was also known as one of the top

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 ...

Coaches and Mentors of his decade.

Background

He is the father of

Brian McClennan Brian "Bluey" McClennan (born 16 February 1962) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He was previously the head coach of the New Zealand national team (with whom he won the 2005 Tri-nations) and then England's ...

Playing career

McClennan played in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

premiership for the

Ponsonby Ponies The Ponsonby Ponies are a rugby league club based in Ponsonby, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1908 and was originally named Ponsonby United. The Ponies compete in the Auckland Rugby League competition and are the oldest rugby league club in ...

and represented the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

in two

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

in 1971. He won the Tetley Trophy in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

as leading try-scorer in the

competition.

Coaching career

During the 1980s McClennan coached the

Mt Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 the Lions won the Fox Memorial. ...

to six

Fox Memorial The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

Grand finals, winning five.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' He was also the

assistant coach under

Graham Lowe Sir Graham Michael Lowe is the owner of the Bradford Bulls together with fellow New Zealander Andrew Chalmers. He is a New Zealand former rugby league football coach and administrator. He previously coached in Australia and England and was the ...

. In 1989 he moved to Northcote and won the Fox Memorial with them that year. In 1990 he was appointed the St. Helens head coach. He coached the team between February 1990 and December 1993. McClennan also was the coach of the Tonga team at the 1995 World Cup. Tonga failed to win a match at the World Cup but earned respect after they narrowly lost to the New Zealand team by a single point. He was also the

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand 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 ...

assistant coach in 1999.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1998. p. 58 In 2000 he served as the technical advisor to the South Africa team at the 2000 World Cup.

Disappearance and death

McClennan suffered from dementia and disappeared from his rest home at

Orewa Orewa is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. It lies on the Hibiscus Coast, just north of the base of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, Whangaparāoa Peninsula and 40 kilometres north of central Auckland. It is a popular holiday destin ...

on 16 October 2019. His body was discovered six days later, on 22 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClennan, Mike 1944 births 2019 deaths Auckland rugby league team players Mount Albert Lions coaches Mount Wellington Warriors players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors coaches Northcote Tigers coaches Ponsonby Ponies players Rugby league fullbacks St Helens R.F.C. coaches Tonga national rugby league team coaches