{"id":403295,"date":"2026-01-10T02:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403295\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T02:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:53:08","slug":"les-kiss-explains-reds-captaincy-change-shoots-down-wallabies-implications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403295\/","title":{"rendered":"Les Kiss explains Reds captaincy change, shoots down Wallabies implications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Superstar flanker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/fraser-mcreight\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fraser McReight<\/a> has the blessing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/tate-mcdermott\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tate McDermott<\/a> to take over the Queensland captaincy, with the former skipper backing in the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/reds\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reds<\/a> leader.<\/p>\n<p>McReight has been anointed sole skipper for their 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/super-rugby\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> campaign, replacing co-captains McDermott and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/liam-wright\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Liam Wright<\/a>, who was an off-season departure.<\/p>\n<p>McDermott could miss the start of the Super campaign in mid-February after rupturing his hamstring last September, with the Wallabies halfback not expected to start running until the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>Reds coach Les Kiss said it was halfback McDermott\u2019s idea for a different \u201cvoice\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTate was very agreeable and actually suggested the idea that we look at how we can broaden the leadership group,\u201d Kiss told reporters in Brisbane on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was involved with the whole process and very keen to make sure it moved on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFraser\u2019s been under Liam and Tate for a while, knows the wisdoms that came from them, and now he\u2019ll take this forward and lead in his own right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McReight\u2019s elevation to a formal leadership position and being a selection certainty seemingly paves the way for him to also take over the Test role leading into the 2027 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/rugby-world-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rugby World Cup<\/a> in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>But Kiss, who will replace Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach mid-year following the Super season, said there was no plan for McReight to replace his Queensland teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/harry-wilson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Harry Wilson<\/a> as Australian captain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, no indication at all in that area, this is totally about the Reds,\u201d Kiss said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Fraser\u2019s just in that right part of his career now to step forward \u2013 he\u2019s probably one of the best sevens in world rugby and he\u2019s shown his wares on the pitch there for the Wallabies and for the Reds for a number of years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo from a Reds perspective, we\u2019re really, really wrapped that Fraser accepted the position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Getting a taste of the captaincy in one Test against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/south-africa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">South Africa<\/a> during the Rugby Championship, McReight also said he wasn\u2019t gunning for Wilson\u2019s leadership role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, definitely not. This is 2026 for the Reds and Wilso\u2019s one of my best mates and I\u2019ve learnt so much from him as the captain of the Wallabies,\u201d said the 26-year-old, who has played 39 Tests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe backs me here, I back him there and we work together really well so I\u2019m not looking for Wallabies right now, I\u2019m here at the Reds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m super grateful that I\u2019ve been given the opportunity and the belief from the coaches and management and also my peers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Superstar flanker Fraser McReight has the blessing of Tate McDermott to take over the Queensland captaincy, with the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-403295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}