MODERN TATE
AT 23, Tate McDermott’s journey in rugby has a long way to run. The Reds scrum-half has started just five Tests for Australia, serving as the back-up to Nic White on a European tour that brought defeats by Scotland, England and Wales.
Yet in another way the circle is complete, because the young Queenslander has made it to the top of a sport that he might never have been playing professionally but for a chilling day ten years ago.
McDermott grew up on the Sunshine Coast, the son of Lexi, a teacher, and Tony, an economist specialising in sugar cane. As a boy he usually had the wind in his hair and the sand between his toes. “We grew up on a beach. My family loved it. They weren’t necessarily into rugby too much,” he says.
McDermott got into surfing and became a member of Maroochydore Surf Club. One of his best mates was Matthew
