'The pinnacle': Invercargill physio lands All Blacks job

“The All Blacks is a premium sports team throughout the world, it’s the ultimate.”

New All Blacks lead physiotherapist Karl McDonald.

At the moment Karl McDonald wakes up each morning kicks himself and reminds himself he has landed his dream job.

About three months ago new All Black coach Scott Robertson appointed Invercargill-based McDonald as the All Blacks lead physiotherapist.

On Thursday New Zealand Rugby officially announced McDonald and the remainder of the All Blacks management team to the wider public.

“It’s pretty mind-blowing really,” McDonald told The Tribune.

“For me, it is the pinnacle for a sports physio from what I set out to do as a physio I guess.”

“The All Blacks is a premium sports team throughout the world, it’s the ultimate.”

It’s the top of the mountain for McDonald in what has already been an impressive career.

It started in humble settings with the Zingari-Richmond Rugby Club in Dunedin after he took on the physio duties after he stopped playing himself.

He moved into roles with the Otago Under-19 and Development teams before working with the Otago NPC and Highlanders Super Rugby teams.

He moved to Invercargill where he worked with the Southland Stags and has since picked up international roles.

It’s included with the Kiwis rugby league team, Japan rugby team, and World Rugby’s sevens referees.

He worked with Jamie Joseph at the Highlanders and in Japan.

When Joseph applied for the All Blacks coaching job Joseph included McDonald as part of his proposed management team through the application process.

Joseph missed out on the job and McDonald initially thought his chances of becoming the All Blacks physio had also disappeared.

However, Robertson chose to advertise the lead physiotherapist job. McDonald applied and went through a thorough interview process.

When McDonald became aware Robertson was then doing his due diligence and checking in with various people on their thoughts of McDonald, he thought he might have a shot of landing the job.

Then came the call.

“He phoned me up and told me I had the job, it was mind-blowing. It’s incredible.”

McDonald has been doing bits and pieces to get ready since that phone call but officially starts in January.

In January the 22 returning All Black players from the World Cup will meet in Auckland for two days, which will include medical and fitness testing.

From there McDonald and All Blacks doctor Martin Swan will collate injury reports each week, which will include gathering information from the Super Rugby teams.

McDonald will also join Robertson and others from the All Blacks management in four-day visits to the Super Rugby teams.

From July through to November, McDonald will be in camp with the All Blacks for the bulk of that time. A busy schedule looms in 2024 with 15 or 16 tests likely for the All Blacks.

The beauty for McDonald is outside of his time in camp with the All Blacks he will remain based at home in Invercargill and is even keen to offer up Marist Rugby Club’s physio Tim Price some help where he might need it.

“I love the club stuff,” McDonald said.

“It’s such a blessing [to able to be based in Invercargill]. With my two roles I’ve had for the last four years, I’ve pretty much been away 32 weeks of the year. This will be 16 and 17 weeks and then home in Invercargill for the majority of the year.”

McDonald is proud to be able to land the All Blacks physiotherapist job while living in Invercargill.

“How good is that? Who would have thought you would be able to do that in this day and age when there are five Super Rugby franchises, to be able to do it from Invercargill.”

The last Invercargill-based physiotherapist to hold the All Blacks role was Neil Familton who was with the All Blacks during the 1987 World Cup win.

McDonald is the first in the professional era.

While there was a lot of excitement bubbling away at the moment there’s also a touch of nerves for McDonald.

The only All Black player he has worked with previously was Ethan de Groot when de Groot was a youngster in the Southland Stags setup.

“I’m very aware of the All Blacks legacy and how important the job is. It makes you a little bit nervous to get the trust of all of these players I’ve never actually worked with.

“I’m looking forward to getting in there and creating connections with them and other staff members and getting their trust in what I do.”

McDonald’s role will be extra important next year given the intense schedule of up to 16 tests.

He acknowledges it’s his job to get players back playing as quickly and as safely as possible.

“It’s a fine line in high performance. You are pushing the boundaries every day to get them back quicker, but that’s what I think my strength is.”

2024 All Blacks Management 

Scott Robertson (Head Coach)

Jason Ryan (Assistant Coach - Forwards)

Leon MacDonald (Assistant Coach - Attack)

Scott Hansen (Assistant Coach - Defence)

Jason Holland (Assistant Coach - Backs)

Tamati Ellison (Contact Skills Coach)

Wayne Smith (Performance Coach)

Jamie Hamilton (Head Performance Analyst)

Al Beeton (Assistant Performance Analyst)

Jon Gardner (Assistant Performance Analyst)

Ceri Evans (Head of Leadership + Mental Performance)

Nic Gill (Head of Performance)

Adam Hay (Performance Scientist) 

Martin Swan (Doctor)

Karl McDonald (Lead Physiotherapist)

Teresa Te Tamaki (Assistant Physiotherapist)

Kat Darry (Dietician)

Paul McLaughlan (Team Manager)

Megan Compain (Commercial Manager)

James Iversen (Logistics Manager)

Matt Manukia (Communications Manager)

Paula Powlesland (Business Manager)

Bianca Thiel (Operations Manager)