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Leicester Tigers boss Dan McKellar says he is surprised by the amount of “whinging and complaining” about the state of the Premiership.
England’s top-flight competition was reduced to 10 teams this season, with Wasps, Worcester and London Irish going bust since the start of last term.
The league is also taking at two-month break to accommodate the Six Nations.
“Let’s take a breath and understand there is a lot of good about the game,” McKellar told BBC Radio Leicester.
McKellar is in his first Premiership season, having left his role as Australia forwards coach in February 2023, and previously worked as head coach of Super Rugby side ACT Brumbies in his native Australia.
He has joined a club that posted £1.5m pre-tax losses for the 12 months up to June 2023 – a period in which three Premiership clubs eventually went out of business.
English rugby’s powerbrokers have spoken in recent months of plans to revitalise the game after the financial collapse of top-tier sides, as well as the demise of second-division club Jersey.
Asked what he made of the state of the English club game, and the criticism aimed at it, McKellar said: “It surprises me a bit to be honest.
“I know to get to 10 teams has been tough for a lot of players and staff of clubs,” he said. “I’d hate to be in that position.
“I’ve talked to [defence coach] Matt Everard about when he was at Wasps and the trauma they all went through there, and there are some people that would still be unemployed – or certainly not working in professional rugby.
“But to get to 10 teams, we are now in a competition where it is tough week in and week out, and we have passionate supporters of all teams. I think the product that is put out from one week to the next is high quality.
“For me, a lot of it is positive.”
‘Human nature to whinge and complain’
McKellar’s bright outlook comes from a dim view on the Australian club game.
The Melbourne Rebels started the Super Rugby season in February, while in administration, and opened their campaign in front of just 4,000 fans at the 30,000-capacity AAMI Park.
One season preview said “for two long decades, Australian rugby has rotted from its head office to its heartland”.
“I can assure you, compared to where I came from it is certainly a whole lot more positive,” McKellar said.
“I watched the Super Round of Super Rugby [in which a weekend of fixtures were played at Melbourne’s AAMI Park] and the crowds are tragic to be honest.
“You go to Harlequins at The Stoop and it is sold out, you go to Franklin’s Gardens and it’s sold out and you go Mattioli Woods Welford Road and it is sold out. There’s big crowds everywhere.
“There is so much positively. It is human nature for people to whinge and complain, and of sure we still have to get things right and do things differently.”
An eight-week hiatus for the Six Nations, ensuring England’s top-flight teams do not have to play without their top players, is one of the ways of doing things differently that McKellar approves of.
When he was in line for the job at Tigers at the start of 2023, the Australian recalled watching an East Midlands derby that packed out Leicester’s home ground but lacked headline talent.
“While it’s a great opportunity for your next generation, what you want in those big games is your best players playing,” McKellar said.
“So whilst it does lose a little bit momentum at this period, I think it is a good thing [to take a break] and think there is going to be a whole lot of energy and positivity once the Premiership restarts again.
“We are going to have better weather and firmer pitches, so the product should be better again, and we will have the best playing against the best.”
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