Alex McKinnon reveals desire to become a junior league coach

ALEX McKinnon has revealed his ambitions to become a junior rugby league coach, saying he’d consider his hometown Aberdeen as a starting point.

Former rugby league player Alex McKinnon at the launch of The Big Day Off at NRL headquarters which is an initiative to raise funds to support people and fund research to support those affected by spinal cord injury. Picture: Adam Taylor

ALEX McKinnon has revealed his ambitions to become a junior rugby league coach, saying he’d consider his hometown Aberdeen as a starting point.

Almost a year after stepping down from his full-time role as a junior recruitment co-ordinator at the Newcastle Knights, McKinnon says his desire to mentor the next generation hasn’t diminished.

The former forward credits his development role with the Knights as a turning point, and now he wants to pursue his passion.

“I do believe that I’d love to coach one day,” McKinnon told The Sunday Telegraph.

“I just don’t know when, but I would definitely start at that junior league stage around the 13s and 15s and it would be with a local club to start with.

“I always keep an ear to the ground back at Aberdeen and talk to different people. When the Knights asked me to help out with the junior recruitment, they were doing a job for me as much as I was doing a job for them.

McKinnon has aspirations to enter the coaching ranks.

“It helped me get back into a routine and out of the house. It was definitely a massive turning point in my life.

“Junior rugby league is something that I really enjoy and I think it’s the heartbeat of the game.”

Before taking on coaching, McKinnon is focused on a big year ahead personally.

On top of his continued spinal injury recovery, the former Knights and Dragons forward will work as an analyst and reporter on Fox Sport’s NRL team.

“At the moment my focus is more on personal development and spending time with my wife Teigan,” he said.

“I’ll also be working at Fox Sports, which will be a bit more demanding.

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“But I’m ready, excited and looking forward to it.

“The coaching will come, though. I understand it is a major sacrifice you need to make in regards to weekends and week days.

“I still go out and watch the juniors play on a weekend.

“I watched the 15s, 16s and 18s trial against Cronulla last week, which was fun.

“I really like that side of football to see the kid’s progress and get used to playing.”

McKinnon is also devoting significant time to his spinal injury recovery following the tragic incident against Melbourne in 2014 that left him a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair.

Despite the setback, he is making impressive progress and remaining positive.

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“The reality is the recovery isn’t as fast as I’d like it to be, but I can’t complain because I’m still improving,” he said.

“A lot of people in my position probably never get the chance to improve, but I’m going forward and I’m very grateful for that.

“It allows me to work and get out of my chair for as long as I want. They are only small things, but with a spinal cord injury all the little things matter.

“I won’t be crying poor me, because I’m very lucky.”