Les Kiss stands under the old Moreton Bay fig tree at North Sydney Oval, ready for his new challenge as Wallabies coach next week in Japan.
The former winger scored plenty of tries under the shade of the heritage-listed tree for the North Sydney Bears.
Watch every second of the Wallabies' 2026 Test season live and on demand via Stan Sport.
30 years on from his debut, Kiss returns to the same tree and ground excited for the fresh challenge of taking the Wallabies into the future.
It's a meshing of Kiss' past and present as the Queenslander takes the Wallabies through their paces at the ground he once called home.
“It is surreal. Since I was announced, it's sat in the back of the mind when you talk to mates from the league days for sure. The mungo is there, but I'm a rugby man now” he told reporters.
"I've been in rugby now longer than I've been in league, but it was nice to be there at the Oval and look at the fig tree and some memories come flooding back for sure,
“What I did like about the experience there was with the boys, they have worked bloody hard, but also smart. We're trying a few little things out. We've certainly had a focus on defence with a new voice in that area and I think that's really put in place a bedrock of where we're going to go with that and continue to grow what that means for us.”
Kiss has finished his first week as coach since taking over from coach Joe Schmidt ahead of their clash with Japan in Osaka next Saturday.
It’ll begin his fast-paced road to next year’s World Cup, looking to drive the Wallabies to success.
The 61-year-old has quickly made the rounds and indoctrinated himself further to the Rugby faithful after returning home to Queensland in 2024 after a long stint overseas.
This stint included working with Schmidt at Ireland as an assistant. The two-match series against the Japanese ends a decade-long absence from the Test arena, having initially started his Rugby Union with South Africa in 2001 as defence coach.
“The test arena, it tests you and that's what it's about. The bandwidth you have to work with is nothing like a Super Rugby game so you don't have much room for error and making sure the moments that matter are the important things,” he said on the difference from Reds to Wallabies.
“Certainly parts of my style have come through in terms of the environment and how we set people up in the place in terms of what they do and what they don't do, and all those things are probably similar, but there's a certain intensity that does rise when you're in this window of Test Rugby.”
Skipper Harry Wilson has been with Kiss throughout his return to Australia at the Reds.
Kiss has backed Wilson to be his captain despite turning to Fraser McReight and Tate McDermott at state level previously.
The number eight can feel the energy and excitement Kiss has brought to the role, hoping it reflects when they take the field in eight days’ time.
“It's been really exciting for us. He's had such good energy coming in and you can see his excitement and just his passion to be coaching his country," Wilson added.
“I know all the boys have loved that and they've really jumped on that passion. He's enabling everyone, just wants everyone to be themselves, be happy and just look where you are right now that we’re Wallabies.
“That sort of passion we've all really enjoyed and I know no doubt we'll keep enjoying it.
