Dan McKellar: Head coach shares superstition as Leicester Tigers eye Premiership Rugby Cup success

The whiff of unwashed socks might be the smell of success for Leicester Tigers this season.

As Australian head coach Dan McKellar prepares the East Midlands club for Friday's Premiership Rugby Cup final and takes aim at his first piece of silverware in the English game, the scent of of his breakthrough triumph 30 years ago remains unforgotten.

In 1994 he was a 17-year-old second-rower, whose first steps in the senior game were with the Burdekin Canetoads - a club based in the small North Queensland county town of Ayr - and finished with a memorable Townsville and District Rugby Union Premiership title.

It was the year McKellar decided to adopt the nose-pinching superstition of refusing to wash his socks unless they lost a match.

The side, captained by McKellar's older brother Steve, was beaten just once, and one team-mate swears it was only because of the smell.

"I was packing in behind him at number eight, and yeah I wish he washed his socks a bit more regularly," McKellar's former Burdekin team-mate Michael Marson told BBC Sport from his home in Australia.

"I reckon we lost one game all year, right in the middle of the season, and I have the memory that we threw that game so he would wash them.

"He washed his socks and we didn't lose for another 12 games, and won the Grand Final."

A teenage Dan McKellar celebrates the Burdekin Canetoads' 1994 TDRU Grand Final win with a drink in hand

Three decades later, after a modest playing career - which took him to Souths in Brisbane and Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland - and eclectic coaching journey, the 47-year-old McKellar might seem a world away from those humble beginnings.

The former ACT Brumbies head coach - who also previously had a stint working in Japan - left his role as Australia's assistant, in the build-up to last year's World Cup, to take the helm at Leicester.

But mention the cleanliness of his socks and what he achieved at Burdekin - a region of small towns in the delta by the Burdekin River, where his mother and father Mickey and Bill still live - and he cannot contain a broad smile and laugh.

"How often have I washed my… oh, I know what you are talking about," when asked how often things get put in the washing machine these days.

"No, that superstition has disappeared. My wife wouldn't have that, unfortunately."

'Tigers in an exciting position'

Beat Gloucester on Friday and, with Tigers through to the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup and still in the hunt for a 12th Premiership title, the prospects of a treble are real.

So much so, McKellar might even consider employing the pungent power of the unclean lucky socks once more.

"Well, if we start that superstition again I'd be happy to wear dirty socks week-in and week-out," he laughed.

"We won't get too far ahead of ourselves, but we started the season with the opportunity to win three trophies and we are still in that position. And that is pleasing, knowing that we still have a lot of growth in us.

"It's a special occasion on Friday, and then we have Europe and the Premiership, so to be in the position to win all three is exciting."

When he moved to Mattioli Woods Welford Road as the permanent replacement for Steve Borthwick - a Premiership-winning head coach at Tigers, who left for the England job in late 2022 - McKellar was expected to follow the tradition of trophy hoarding.

Phil Cokanasiga scored two tries in Leicester's Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final win against Championship side Ealing

They are looking to win the Premiership Rugby Cup for the first time, but have won various previous iterations of the competition eight times - to go with the record 11 Premiership crowns and two European Champions Cups they have in their cabinet.

While both Leicester and Gloucester are missing a number of international stars because of Six Nations duties, McKellar has named two-time World Cup winning fly-half Handre Pollard in a side that has a strong mix of youth to go with his experience.

"I spoke to the group and pointed out Ben Youngs [Leicester scrum-half] has played 500 professional games and won five trophies, so in 495 of those games he didn't win a trophy," added McKellar.

"It doesn't come around that often and you need to make sure you grab the opportunity and take advantage of the memories you can create.

"You remember the games as best you can, but it's the memories in the dressing shed, the blood, the sweat and the tears you commit with the person beside you."

'You have to pinch yourself'

And that is why, on a Saturday morning more than 9,500 miles away, McKellar's old team-mate in the town he grew up in will be tuning in to watch.

Following McKellar's career progression, from teenage "prankster" and Queensland Reds squad member, to coaching the ACT Brumbies to the Super Rugby AU title in 2020, has long been a joy for those with whom he first won a trophy.

"I've followed every step of Dan's path," Marson said.

"Good on him for doing what he is doing, and we are just so proud of him in this area.

"I know his parents Bill and Mickey will be getting on a bit in age but they still live here, and I reckon they will be the proudest mum and dad in the world."

After seeing a good luck message from Marson before Friday's final, memories of that first piece of silverware come flooding back.

"Jeez, you are making me emotional," added McKellar.

"My parents were publicans in North Queensland, and I was fortunate to play with my brother and a lot of my best mates. And while we don't see each other that often these days, the Canetoads played such a big role in my life - and I suppose those boys in particular.

"For them to still be across what I'm doing and wish me well and success for my career, I genuinely appreciate it.

"I feel fortunate and grateful to sit here, 30 years after playing for the Burdekin Canetoads, and to coach one of the biggest clubs in the world. You have to pinch yourself."