ABU DHABI // When Mike McFarlane suffered a career-ending broken leg in the summer of 2013, sympathy was almost entirely universal. Other than back at home, where he was immediately consigned to the dog house.
As one of the leading players in the domestic game, he had battled his way back from a year and a half out with a snapped shin, only to shatter the same leg as soon as he returned to the playing field. If the first injury had been career-threatening, this one was terminal.
Harsh luck. Worse still, it meant he had to limp down the aisle on crutches on his wedding day three weeks later.
He stayed in rugby, first in an administrative role, then as coach. Now, having served his apprenticeship as part of Jeremy Manning’s coaching team at Abu Dhabi Harlequins, he has been promoted to the role of head coach at the capital’s oldest club.
Time and experience may have brought wisdom which he hopes he is bringing to bear in the role. But McFarlane’s sense of timing has still not improved much since the end of his playing days.
Wife Amanda is expecting their first child, which has meant a UAE staycation for most of this summer, meaning he has been able to oversee an extensive pre-season programme in his new role.
The start of the UAE Premiership rugby season is scheduled for September 25. And Mrs McFarlane’s due date? September 25, obviously.
“That dog house has become the dog hotel,” joked McFarlane, 29, who teaches at the British School Al Khubairat.
“I had planned to step away from coaching because my wife was pregnant and I thought I would need time to devote to that. I wanted to commit to family and school.
“Then the boys got on my back, and even my wife was saying, ‘No, you should really do this’. I had the backing of pretty much everyone then, and this is a great step for my coaching.”
Harlequins will be missing some familiar faces when the season starts. Clendon Pene and Iziq Foa’i, the midfield powerhouses from their UAE Premiership winning campaign, are now overseas.
However, McFarlane is excited about the arrival of a variety of new players, such as Brian Geraghty, who excelled in the club’s rugby league side at the end of last season, Matty Smith and Gavin O’Murchu.
He thinks there are as many as 25 players he could fit in to the seven berths available to back-line players in the starting XV.
Seeing his own playing days curtailed by injury while still at the peak of his career was tough for McFarlane to take, but staying away from rugby proved even harder.
Far from being embittered by being unable to cross the white line and enter the fray himself, he believes his experiences have made him a better coach.
“Being so soon after being a player, I’m hopefully able to create the playing experiences I wanted as a player,” he said.
“I know what I would have wanted in terms of preparation before a match, or sorting out quality kit. That is all stuff that means a lot to a player. There are lots of little things that go a long way.
“I expect us to be really strong and I am looking forward to the first game of the season [against city rivals and Gulf Top Six champions Saracens]. I think it should be quite a statement.”
Mighty young Quins
Abu Dhabi Harlequins have been one of the most successful clubs in the country at bringing through junior players to senior men’s rugby.
Given his day job as a teacher, the new head coach Mike McFarlane is hopeful the cycle can continue with some bright prospects pushing for places in the first XV.
Fraser March (scrum-half) – Young player of the year in UAE at age-group level last season, the British School Al Khubairat No 9 trained with English Premiership side Saracens this summer.
Harry Seward (prop/back-row) – A “very talented” prop at schoolboy level, according to the BSAK director of rugby Ed Lewsey, McFarlane thinks he may get experience in the back-row in men’s rugby first.
Oakeley Mellish (wing/fullback) – A fleet-footed runner with “dynamite feet,” according to Lewsey, who will be vying for a place in the back three of an already well-stocked Quins backline.
pradley@thenational.ae
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