‘I’m not looking for Wallabies’: Leadership shake-up offers clue to World Cup path

Wallabies star Fraser McReight has denied his sights are set on leading Australia at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, upon his unveiling as the new skipper of the Queensland Reds.

McReight has become a consistent standout figure in the gold jumper since 2022, and has the backing of past greats such as John Eales to spearhead the nation for the long haul.

The 26-year-old will replace halfback Tate McDermott and the departing Liam Wright in the Reds’ top job, in what will be coach Les Kiss’ final season before he takes the Wallabies’ reins mid-year.

But McReight, who became Australia’s 91st captain when he led the team against South Africa in last year’s Rugby Championship, insisted taking the full-time job at international level – a role that has been held by Queensland teammate Harry Wilson – was not on his radar.

“No, definitely not. This is ’26 for the Reds and Wilso is one of my best mates, I back him, and I’ve learnt so much from him as the captain of the Wallabies,” he said.

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

He said captaining the Wallabies for a game was a different matter, and it had given him confidence to understand what was required.

“Also sitting back listening and watching and observing the leaders of the past at Super level, but also international level, has made me understand what’s required,” he said.

“A great team has many leaders, and we definitely have that here. It’s not just the senior leaders, but the young leaders coming through and giving voice to the younger boys.”

Kiss confirmed McDermott had an active role in the Reds’ captaincy discussions, revealing it was the No.9 who encouraged a rethink of the leadership group in pursuit of 2026 glory.

“[McDermott] has done his job to date. This is probably indicative of the last five to seven years of building a nice succession plan in terms of people who can stand up to leadership,” Kiss said.

“In my mind, it was crystallising this through the eyes of the people everyone looks up to. We’ve got a lot of people the players look up to, and I think Fraser’s just in that right part of his career to step forward.

“He’s probably one of the best sevens in world rugby, and he’s shown his wares on the pitch for the Wallabies and for the Reds for a number of years.”

Kiss denied McReight’s appointment was indicative of his plans once he took over from current Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, as he cast his eye towards delivering a Super Rugby title to Ballymore before plotting a World Cup triumph on home soil.

“No, it’s no indication at all, this is totally about the Reds. We’ve got a big season ahead, we have a very tough draw, and we’re going to need all hands on deck and to stay focused on the job ahead,” Kiss said.

“I think it stands to what the Reds have done in the past five to seven years, to have Tate, Fraser and Harry all holding the reins of captain of the Wallabies at some stage, but that only talks volumes for what the Reds are doing here in their program.”

McReight will take the helm having endured a “tough” winless Wallabies’ Spring Tour, but has returned from a break determined to end a Reds’ Super Rugby premiership drought dating back to 2011, aside from the 2021 Super Rugby Australian triumph.

“I had a few rules with the family … not to speak about it, just to get my mind away,” McReight said.

“It’s made me be able to have some time a few days ago to sit back and think about what actually got achieved in 2025 and how I can use that for my game, but also tell people around me to push for higher honours.

“We want to be going deep into this competition. We probably haven’t achieved what we wanted to achieve in the past four seasons. We’re sick of falling out early, and you can feel that fire before even any game has been played.”

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