Report: Scott Robertson offered shock NRL head coaching role by Southern Orcas

The New Zealand Herald has reported that former All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has been offered an NRL head coaching role with the Southern Orcas.

The proposed Christchurch-based NRL franchise, according to club president Sir Graham Lowe, has tabled a four-year deal to Robertson to become the head coach.

The 51-year-old has been without a role since departing the All Blacks frame in January 2026, apart from a short stint with the Barbarians alongside Felipe Contepomi.

“We’re well aware that he’s not coached rugby league before, but he’s certainly got a good handle on rugby league and has been looking at it closely and studying it closely for a long time; that’s quite obvious,” Lowe told the Herald.

“We’ll have experienced assistants around him. We think it’ll be a great coup for us.

“I think it shows the open-mindedness that we have of the club, you know, the vision and the passion and also the ambition that we’ve got.

“He won’t compromise his principles to fit in with mediocrity, and that fits right in with the philosophy that we have going forward and the ambitions we have,” Lowe said.

“He just oozes leadership; he oozes inspiration, and that’s what you need at this level. One of the key ingredients is being able to get the best out of people, inspire others around you, and Scott can certainly do that.”

Lowe explained that the Orcas, if accepted as the NRL’s 20th team, wouldn’t be short of talent, as players could easily transition to the 13-man code.

“There’s a heck of a lot of talent in New Zealand, and they’re not all playing rugby league,” Lowe said.

“There’s a heck of a lot of young talent currently involved in rugby union that would easily make the transition to rugby league, and I think you see that on a regular basis in the NRL now.”

“The ball’s in Razor’s court at the moment, but I don’t want to push him or pressure him in any way.

“This is a big call for us to make, and if we had even 1% doubt about it, we wouldn’t have made it, because we want to get everything right from the start. We’re just super confident and hopeful that this offer will be accepted by Scott.”