"It's time for Fraser" - Reds Coach Les Kiss reveals why Wallabies star McReight replaced Tate McDermott as captain

“It gives me great pleasure to announce Fraser as captain for 2026,” said Kiss. The team has previously been led by co-captains Liam Wright and Tate McDermott, after Kiss decided to continue their co-captaincy upon taking on the role as head coach and assessing the squad in 2023.

The Queensland-born 61-year-old coach has a resume spanning Australia, Europe, and South Africa and has been coaching rugby for over two decades. The head coach said that “Fraser has been a leader in his own right within the group for a long time now. He captained lower grades for Australia as well, so he’s got a lot of leadership credibility.”

Kiss said the process of deciding on the captaincy was very “thorough” and that scrum half Tate McDermott played a role in the decision to change the captaincy. “Tate was very agreeable and actually suggested the idea that we look at how we can broaden the leadership group,” he added.

The Reds have been co-captained for four consecutive years after the then-coach Brad Thorn named McDermott and Wright in 2022. Kiss said part of McDermott and Wright’s legacy as captains is having players who can stand up to leadership, and that they have helped build a nice succession plan within the team.

“He was involved with the whole process and very keen to make sure it moved on. He's going to be invaluable in terms of the leadership group for sure,” said Kiss when asked about McDermott’s reaction to the change. "He saw the value of moving the voices a little bit, and we've got the right voice, fully backed by all of our leaders in the club.”

When asked further about the decision to move from a co-captaincy to a singular captain for the 2026 season, Kiss said McReight is keen to take it on his own. “I think it’s the right thing, it’s time for Fraser to take this and lead in his own way,” Kiss said. “We've got a lot of people that the players do look up to, and I think Fraser is in that right part of his career now to step forward.

He's probably one of the best sevens in world rugby, showing his wares on the pitch for the Wallabies and for the Reds for a number of years, so from a Reds perspective, we're really rapt that Fraser accepted the position,” Kiss commented.

This is McReight’s eighth season with the Reds, and he was named captain in early January. He made his national debut in 2020 and his Super Rugby debut in 2019. McReight has been named Australian Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year twice. Despite his future move to the Australian national team, Kiss said his sole focus is currently the Reds.

“We have a very tough draw,” Kiss said when talking about the upcoming Super Rugby season, “we’re going to need all hands on deck and stay focused on the job ahead.” However, he said everyone is right behind McReight to lead them into this season.

The Reds play their first game against the Waratahs away in Sydney on the 13th of February. The Reds finished fifth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder in 2025 and 2024. Last season marked their fourth consecutive year being pushed out in the first round of the finals.

“It’s a big year, it’s an important year,” said Kiss. “We’ve got a campaign ahead of us, and
yeah, we're bloody excited.”