The Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) have announced that QRU No. 875 Paul McLean MBE has been unanimously elected a QRU Life Member following the 2017 Bi-annual General Meeting at Ballymore today.
Please find below a biography of Paul’s life inside and outside Rugby:After his illustrious career as a player, Paul turned his sights becoming a rugby administrator and using his skills as a footballer and businessman to serve as President of Brothers from 1988-1991, as President of the QRU from 2000-2005 and President of the Australian Rugby Union from 2005-2009.
In his playing career, Paul served with outstanding distinction over a lengthy career playing for Queensland from 1973-1982 with 100 games and 1,002 points (both a record at the time of his retirement).
Paul played as Captain on 11 occasions, including leading Queensland against New Zealand at Ballymore in 1980.
Paul represented the Wallabies from 1974-1982, playing 70 matches including 30 Tests, captaining the Wallabies in 4 matches including 1 Test against Fiji.
He scored 555 points for the Wallabies in both Test and Tour matches.
Paul also joined Brothers in 1972 as a fresh-faced Colt and went on to play 113 Premier “A” Grade games for Brothers from 1973 to 1982, scoring 1159 points which has been the Brothers Club record for the past 34 years.
Paul won seven premierships (6 Premier Grade & 1 Premier Colts) with Brothers and captained Brothers Premier “A” Grade team during the 1976 & 1977 seasons.
For his Service to Rugby Union, Paul would be appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1982. Paul was unanimously elected a Life Member of Brothers in 1996 for his outstanding 24 years’ service to the Club.
He continues to serve as a member of the Past Presidents Committee and plays a mentoring role for young players and staff.
Paul outstanding contribution to Rugby in Queensland as a player was also recognized when he was selected in both the Queensland Rugby Union Team of the Century in 1999 and Brothers Old Boys Rugby Club Team of the Century in 2001.
In 2013 Paul was one of the 11 foundation inductees into the Queensland Rugby Union Hall of Fame, this was after his induction into the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2011.
The McLean Family is a famous Queensland rugby family, with the main stand Ballymore named in honour of the contributions from the McLean family to Queensland rugby and Australian rugby upon Paul’s retirement in 1982.
It is with great pride that Brothers Rugby Club nominates Paul Edward McLean M.B.E. as an outstanding candidate for the honour of Life Member.
