By BRIAN LOWE
North America Editor
DESPITE the United States striking out at last year’s World Cup, USA Rugby League is hellbent on retaining the services of successful Leeds Rhinos mentor Brian McDermott as their head coach.
The United States Hawks came away from the 2017 World Cup with an 0-3 record. Two of those losses were big shutouts, including their final pool game against Papua New Guinea, which turned out to be the Americans’ heaviest ever defeat at a World Cup.
And to make matters worse, the Hawks had the worst points differential of any of the 14 teams competing. That’s right, even the awful France and Wales fared better.
The USARL took over as the national governing body in America in 2014 and since then it has implemented a different national team selection policy to that of its predecessors.
The current administrators firmly believe in promoting homegrown talent, rather than loading the team with heritage players, which, by the way, is what just about every other country did at RLWC2017.
The USARL has adopted a ‘legacy’ philosophy. What that means is that half of the World Cup team roster was filled by domestic-based players, and it’s expected those players will return to their clubs in the ‘States and talk up the game and therefore help grow it in the US.
McDermott bought into that philosophy and said as much during the World Cup.
“Going well in the competition was on a list of objectives,” he said. “At the end of it, USA rugby league is in far better shape than what it was when it went in and that’s not necessarily reliant on scores or winning games.
“At some stage if we’re hopeful that the game is going to grow in America, you have to bite the bullet and say well let’s just throw a lot of guys in there and let them experience it.
“Some of these boys are going to go back to American shores and say this is what rugby league is like, this is the culture, this is the environment, this is how to train, this is what it’s like at the sharpest, hardest level. The only way you can do it is by playing them.”
McDermott was first drafted by the USA to coach the Hawks in the RLWC Americas region qualifying series in 2015, a series in which they beat Canada and Jamaica, and did so handily.
The core of that team is the same one that went to Australasia in 2017, but the step up in competition was clearly evident and the Hawks, with no top line NRL or Super League players on their roster, just weren’t up to it.
USARL chairman Peter Illfield is not flustered by the Hawks’ disappointing performances. In fact, he’s of the opinion that they did themselves proud.
And he thinks Mac did a good job.
