Faces in the crowd: Hawks intern coach Decclan McLean

During the Illawarra Hawks' 43-year existence, 221 players have pulled on the club's jersey.

But the number of fans who have supported the foundation club during that period is exponentially more.

As such, the club has decided to profile some of the most prominent and longest-serving HawkHeads with our new 'faces in the crowd' series.

After profiling numerous long-time HawkHeads, including most recently Peter Brettell, we decided to highlight the excellent work of some of the heartbeats behind the scenes of this current Hawks group - starting with intern coach Decclan McLean.

A native of Victoria, McLean fell in love with hoops at a young age thanks to his father Mark.

"I grew up in an environment where the basketball was either on the television or there was an argument about putting it on," McLean said.

"Fortunately enough for me, I grew to love the game the same way my Dad does."

It was during this time, the Mount Martha product started playing hoops himself, for a number of different teams

"In my life, I've been fortunate enough to be a part of multiple great clubs, most notably the Hurricanes - which was a team run by my parents," the 21-year-old said.

"While the club originated as only a domestic team of six or seven of my local mates, we grew to become a club that hosted five teams and where we would go and compete against top-level representative programs in highly respected tournaments around Victoria.

"It provided me with not only the ability to play but also an introduction to coaching."

Then after finishing up his schooling at Haileybury, McLean searched for ways to stay involved in basketball - which led to him applying for the Hawks position he saw on LinkedIn.

Weeks after putting his name in the ring, he got the role and moved to Wollongong in November 2021 - straight after the NBL Blitz.

"I wanted to follow a coaching route simply because I love the game too much to not be around it," said McLean, who is also balancing work as a financial planner and studying law at Swinburne University with his Hawks gig.

"The best part about coaching is that it provides you with the opportunity to learn and study the game while still being able to compete with your team."

McLean admits coaches Brian Goorjian, Jacob Jackomas and Shaun Roger have had a massive impact on him as a coach and person, during his short time with the foundation club.

"The coaching staff as a whole have made the transition from interstate very easy," said McLean, who singled out Illawarra's round 16 road win against South East Melbourne as the most memorable he's been involved in, saying it 'ignited our finals push'.

"They’re constantly looking out for me on both a personal and basketball level, proving why they’re so renowned within the league."

"In my short time with the Hawks, I’ve learnt so much about the runnings and operations that are required in professional sport.

"I’ve also learnt the impact that playing in a great community, like the Illawarra, has on the success of a program."

A regular day in the life of McLean will see him assist trainer Phil Driscoll and high performance manager Alex Moore set-up and pack down the practice venue, rebound for players as they arrive/during the session/after training, hold spare balls/sweat towels, film and code practice and run the clock. 

Then on a game day, he rebounds for the players as they come out in their warm-up groups, organise the live capture setup for the game, live code the game, assist the coaching staff with any tasks as they come up, distribute the video files as required to the coaching staff and rebound for players as required. 

Hawks assistant coach Shaun Roger explained how McLean and his two fellow intern colleagues Patrick Williams and Angus Bourke have been huge assets to the club in NBL22.

"We have been tremendously fortunate to have the services of three high calibre individuals involved in our intern coach program," Roger said.

"Decclan, Angus, and Pat have displayed a willingly selfless attitude and a growth mindset to their approach in the day-to-day function of the team - they are all high character, hardworking, and naturally inquisitive learners."

"Their approach to the program has allowed us to further develop our workflows as a coaching staff, as well as enabling our ability to greater service each individual athletes’ pre/post-practice needs. 

"As a staff, we are thankful for all three of their commitment and have enjoyed their company through a challenging covid impacted NBL season."

With the NBL Finals just around the corner, McLean is confident his team have what it takes to add a second championship banner to the rafters.

"Obviously, the boys are playing a high level of basketball and the way they've been able to handle adversity and stick together this season, is what separates them from the rest of the league and why I think they can go all the way," he said.