'Playing Bs was a bit of a kick in the guts': Young Reds star Tate McDermott's story of resilience
Tate McDermott was arguably the player of the round from week one of Super Rugby AU, with an impressive performance last Friday helping the Queensland Reds defeat rivals New South Wales Waratahs for the first time since 2013.
The Reds scrumhalf appeared to have an abundance of energy, constantly looking dangerous around the ruck with playmaking, kicking and general leadership that contributed towards the six-point victory.
He also crossed for five-pointer late in the first half, with a clever tap-and-go catching the Waratahs napping for a try that would make any scrumhalf proud.
McDermott was thrilled to have helped his state reclaim bragging rights, with many drawing parallels between the intensity of that match and rugby league’s State of Origin. He added that with the season being so short, that it was important that the Reds got their season off to a strong start.
“That win was absolutely massive for our playing group to start with, but for our fan base as well. They haven’t really tasted much success against our traditional rivals New South Wales in a while so it was a massive win for us, but it could’ve honestly been a lot better if we played to our full potential,” McDermott told RugbyPass.
“We’ve had a bit of time to watch across the ditch and see that if you aren’t going those early wins in, you slowly fall behind the eight ball there.”
While McDermott is heaping plenty of praise from Australian rugby pundits and fans alike, the 21-year-old isn’t getting ahead of himself even with Wallabies honours seemingly not too far away.
“If that opportunity ever presented itself, I’d like to think that I’d be ready for it. At the moment I’d be selfish if I was thinking about that because with all due respect to the people who have played for the Reds before, since 2011 we haven’t actually achieved much at all to be honest.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to play for the Wallabies. It’s definitely a goal and a dream of mine, but it’s hard to think about it at the moment when I’ve got a job to do for my state.”
But McDermott’s rugby journey wasn’t always smooth sailing; in fact it’s a story of resilience.
He decided to focus on rugby after the death of friend Matthew Barclay at the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships, which was a challenge to overcome.
Moving from the Coast to live with his grandfather in Brisbane’s Eastern suburbs, McDermott attended Brisbane State High School for grade eight and half of nine, with recent alumni including Wallabies Jordan Petaia, Matt Toomua and Samu Kerevi.
“I went to a school that didn’t taste much success on the Sunny Coast, so I kind of wanted to push myself and explore the GPS which is notorious for being the best rugby competition in Queensland. I wanted to test myself against the best so I moved to Brisbane State High School, started there in grade eight.
“There was a bit of personal stuff going on at the time, I lost a pretty good mate of mine at a Surf Life Saving carnival so it was cumulation of things that led to me not really wanting to be in Brisbane at that time. I moved there for rugby so playing Bs was a bit of a kick in the guts.”
After a year and a half in Brisbane, he decided to move to Sunshine Coast Grammar where he failed to make representative teams, not even the Sunshine Coast Schoolboys.
He did however affirm that moving back to the Coast was the “best move I could’ve made” for his rugby career, as he stood out rather than being “just another player” among the talented pool of GPS players.
He caught the eye of Reds development officer Paul Carozza, who attended most of his games and included him in the Emerging Reds program.
McDermott made his first “real rep team” in his senior year at school with the Queensland Schoolboys, before being named on the bench for the Australian Barbarians – who are Australia’s second schoolboy side.
But when he graduated, the Sunshine Coast product may have fancied himself as a Sevens player but still made sure to make the most of a brief opportunity with the Reds.
“Nick Stiles was the Reds coach at the time, and before I’d played for the Australian Sevens team, I actually spent a week of pre-season [with the Reds]. Jason Gilmore who got me into the 20s program, asked me to come down and do a week with them.
“That was massive for me. I’ve always watched the Reds, I’ve always wanted to be a Red so to spend a week in pre-season with them was massive.”
At 18-years-old, he made his Australian Sevens debut in Wellington alongside some of sports biggest names.
“It was always in the back of my mind playing Sevens. I’ve loved watching people like James Stannard, Lewis Holland, Ed Jenkins, those kind of players.
“To be making my debut at 18 in Wellington, I was actually playing with James Stannard, it was massive for me and I absolutely loved it.”
After later turning his focus back to fifteens, McDermott admitted that he returned to play for the Reds, and was rewarded for his ambition in 2018.
Off the bench, the halfback made his Super Rugby debut against the Rebels in Melbourne.
Having played 14 matches throughout the 2019 season, he soon cemented himself as the first choice in Queensland colours.
McDermott was equal second for tries scored in Super Rugby before the COVID break, looking very comfortable at Super level.
After training one-on-one with former Wallaby Will Genia during the break, McDermott appears to have taken his game up another notch which has many people calling for his selection in the next national squad.
But the 21-year-old’s consistency will be up to the test on Friday when he starts at Brookvale Oval against the Rebels.
McDermott is expecting defence to play a major part in the result, with the Reds looking to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this year.
“It’s all about playing in the right parts of the field as well so that’ll be my job, that’ll be James O’Connor’s job as well. We’ve got to make sure that we’re directing team, similar to how we were on the weekend.
“They’re obviously a lot better than what they played on the weekend so by no means do we think that it’s going to be a walk-in, we’ve got a massive game ahead of ourselves.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments