Shaun McRae, nicknamed 'Bomber', was born in 1959 and began his rugby league coaching career as an assistant for the Canberra Raiders in the mid-late 1980s.
Under McRae South Sydney finished the 2005 NRL season level on 23 premiership points with 2004 premiers the Canterbury Bulldogs.
The 2006 season was seen as a transitional phase for the club, with the loss of senior players such as Bryan Fletcher, Ashley Harrison and Scott Logan, however with the club getting the wooden spoon for the third time in five seasons, he was asked to make way for outgoing Parramatta Eels coach Jason Taylor, who had been hired to replace McRae's previous assistant, Arthur Kitinas.
In early 2007 he was installed as the favourite to succeed Brian Noble to become the full-time coach of Great Britain but the job went to Tony Smith.
McRae's arrival was followed by the unveiling of new head coach Peter Gentle (formerly assistant-coach of the Wests Tigers), who took over from Richard Agar.