Shane McNally (born 19 May 1954) is an Australian former
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 11 ...
footballer and current
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
coach. He was sacked by
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...
in June 2005.
Playing career
McNally started his playing career at
Northern Suburbs
Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney ...
before a move to
Western Suburbs in 1975 where he made his first 'A' Grade appearance and captained the Premiership-winning Reserve Grade team under coach
Don Oxenham in 1976. After 3 seasons at the Panthers, McNally moved to Gatton Hawks for a season where Gatton became the Ipswich Premiers, McNally scoring all points in the Grand Final, before accepting an offer to return to Brisbane with
Eastern Suburbs Tigers
The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...
. McNally played 107 'A' Grade games for Easts before retiring in 1984.
He was a
prop-forward who was also a prolific goal kicker, winning the leading point-scorer trophy three times in the Brisbane 'A' grade competition. He was also a member of Easts' 1983 Premiership team, kicking 3 goals in a 14–6 defeat of
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) premiership competition in 1960, and since 1996 have played i ...
at Lang Park. McNally represented
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, captained by
Wally Lewis
Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...
on their 1983 tour of England, where he was top point scorer.
Coaching career
Shortly following his retirement, McNally began his coaching career, taking charge of Easts 'A' grade in 1987 before coaching junior teams at East Mt Gravatt. He coached Easts 'Colts' (under 19) team to a 3rd-place finish in 1991 before winning a premiership in 1992, a team that featured future
State of Origin
A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...
players
Geoff Bell and
Paul Green.
In 1993 he accepted a job as Development Officer for South-East Division of the
Queensland Rugby League. In 1998 he moved to
Darwin to take up Head Coach of the Rugby League program at the Northern Territory Institute of Sport. It was in Brisbane in the seventies that he first met the-then Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Head Coach,
Peter Roe.
McNally was appointed assistant coach to Peter Roe at Wakefield Trinity in November 2001, and was placed in temporary charge in July 2002 after Roe was sacked. His first match in charge was a 22–22 draw against
Widnes Vikings
The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two r ...
at
Belle Vue Stadium
Belle Vue Stadium was a greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, where the first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. It has also been used for motorcycle speedway, as the home ground of Elite League t ...
. The following week, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats travelled to London, winning 31–24 over the
London Broncos after trailing 0–18 at half time. Following this match, McNally was appointed Football Manager / Coach, in partnership with
Adrian Vowles
Adrian Vowles (born 30 May 1971) is a former professional Scotland international rugby league footballer who played as a or in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent ...
, who was signed as Player / Coach. Under this leadership, Wakefield stayed up on the last day of the season after defeating Warrington 50–10.
In season 2003, the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats struggled to 11th in the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
table and Vowles was released by the club. McNally was appointed Head Coach on a 1-year contract.
Season 2004 was a watershed year for Wakefield, who finished the Super League regular season in 6th place with 30 points. In the first elimination semi-final they defeated
Hull F.C.
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
28–18 at the
KC Stadium
The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...
, setting up a semi final clash with
Wigan Warriors
The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League.
Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...
at the
JJB Stadium
The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...
. Although they led 14–0 early in the match, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats were defeated 14–18 with a controversial 'no-try' ruling costing them dearly. McNally was subsequently awarded the 'Coach of the Year' award
and signed a new two-year deal with Wakefield to the end of 2006.
Season 2005 started just as brightly for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, winning away at Bradford Bulls and home to WiganWarriors, to lead the Super League table for the first time in their history after 2 rounds. The sale of captain
Gareth Ellis
Gareth Ellis (born 3 May 1981) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the Super League and the NRL, and England and Great Britain at international level.
He played at club level for the Wakefield Tr ...
, coupled with injuries to key players
Sid Domic and
David Solomona disrupted Wakefield however and after a series of losses, McNally was sacked in June.
His last game in charge was a 28–40 loss to the
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...
.
McNally returned to his native Australia in August 2005, where he took a position of Development Manager with the
Wynnum Manly Seagulls
The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...
in the Queensland Cup. After the resignation of Wynnum head coach
Neil Wharton in August 2006, McNally was appointed head coach of the Seagulls for the 2007 season.
McNally now has four children, two sons and two daughters.
References
Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNally, Shane
1954 births
Living people
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England
Australian rugby league coaches
Australian rugby league players
Eastern Suburbs Tigers players
Norths Devils players
Rugby league props
Wakefield Trinity coaches
Wests Panthers players
Wynnum Manly Seagulls coaches