Dan McKellar has turned to his home state to fill a void in the ACT Brumbies' coaching ranks with Queensland academy mentor Rod Seib set to join the Super Rugby AU champions.
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Seib will take charge of the Brumbies' attack following the departure of Peter Hewat after he linked up with Japanese outfit Ricoh Black Rams on a two-year deal.
The Brumbies will make an announcement when Seib arrives in Canberra in the coming weeks before pre-season training kicks off midway through November.
The addition of Seib as assistant coach ticks off one of McKellar's major off-season objectives after he knocked back an opportunity to join the Wallabies' staff to ensure the Brumbies program was in a stable position.
Seib led Queensland Country to a National Rugby Championship grand final during a two-year stint as head coach in 2018-19, while also taking charge of Brisbane City's NRC side in 2016.
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The former Queensland Red and Australian sevens representative also led Brothers and Sunnybank to premier grand finals during his nine-year coaching stint in the Brisbane competition.
Now he joins a Brumbies outfit determined to build on its Super Rugby AU triumph with officials planning to kick off the new season on the weekend of February 20.
"I don't think you ever lose the excitement or that feeling [following a grand final win], the euphoria afterwards. Now planning for 2021 has well and truly begun," McKellar said.
"Super Rugby AU was a real positive for the game in this country. The rugby community and sporting fans really enjoyed it.
"Do we eventually want to get to a stage where we're playing in a trans-Tasman competition against the Crusaders, Blues and those teams? Yeah we do.
"But the domestic competition we produced in 2020 just to get rugby back on the field and back on TV screens, because there were plenty of times there we thought that wouldn't be the case, was a huge positive. People really bought into it and players enjoyed it."
Thirteen returning Brumbies are away on Wallabies duties for the Tri-Nations tournament, which set to begin in Sydney next weekend before wrapping up on December 5.
The remainder of the squad will report for pre-season next month, with 28 of this year's crop set to return.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
