Reds head coach Les Kiss has revealed that a suggestion from the Brisbane-based outfit’s former skipper Tate McDermott has resulted in Fraser McReight taking over the side’s captaincy.

It was announced on Friday that star openside flanker McReight has been appointed as the Reds’ captain for their 2026 Super Rugby Pacific campaign, and he takes over the leadership role from former co-captains McDermott and Liam Wright, who left the club during the off-season.

McReight has become Australia‘s first-choice openside flanker in recent years, and he has already made 39 Test appearances for the Wallabies.

The 26-year-old is no stranger to captaincy. He stepped up to captain the Wallabies for the first time against South Africa in Cape Town last year – as a replacement for regular skipper Harry Wilson, who was injured at the time – after leading the Australia Under-20s in 2019.

McDermott is in a race to be fit for the Reds‘ Super Rugby Pacific opener against arch-rivals the Waratahs in Sydney on February 13 as he is still struggling to overcome a hamstring tear sustained during last year’s first Bledisloe Cup Test at Eden Park in Auckland.

McDermott’s idea for a different voice as Reds’ leader

Kiss said the selfless act from McDermott was the experienced scrum-half’s idea for a different voice as the Reds’ on-field leader.

“Tate was very agreeable and actually suggested the idea that we look at how we can broaden the leadership group,” Kiss told reporters in Brisbane.

“He was involved with the whole process and very keen to make sure it moved on.

“Fraser’s been under Liam and Tate for a while, knows the wisdoms that came from them, and now he’ll take this forward and lead in his own right.”

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McReight’s promotion to the role of Reds captain and the fact that he is a first-choice player for the Wallabies should put him in the frame to lead his country in the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Kiss, who will replace Joe Schmidt as the Wallabies’ head coach mid-year after finishing the Super Rugby Pacific season with the Reds, said that he expects Wilson to continue being Australia’s captain.

“No, no indication at all in that area, this is totally about the Reds,” he said.

“I think Fraser’s just in that right part of his career now to step forward – he’s probably one of the best sevens in world rugby, and he’s shown his wares on the pitch there for the Wallabies and for the Reds for a number of years.

‘Really rapt that Fraser accepted the position’

“So from a Reds perspective, we’re really, really rapt that Fraser accepted the position.”

Despite leading the Wallabies in that one Test against the Springboks during last year’s Rugby Championship, McReight also said he has no ambition to replace Wilson as the team’s leader on a permanent basis.

“No, definitely not. This is 2026 for the Reds and Wilso’s one of my best mates, and I’ve learnt so much from him as the captain of the Wallabies,” he explained.

“He backs me here, I back him there and we work together really well so I’m not looking for Wallabies right now, I’m here at the Reds.

“I’m super grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity and the belief from the coaches and management and also my peers.”

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