Rod Macqueen was the first head coach of the ACT Brumbies in 1996. He led them to the 4th best win-loss record in the competition that year, only missing out on a finals berth due to the Natal Sharks winning a superior number of bonus points. The ACT Brumbies were one of only two teams to beat the Queensland Reds in the regular season. Macqueen's 1996 Brumbies were the only team to beat Queensland, Natal, and the Auckland Blues.