During his rugby league playing career, Byrne played with Melbourne, Hawthorn and Sydney in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
He represented Melbourne in 1977 and decided to cross to Hawthorn one game into his sixth season with Melbourne.
With his glittering career at its peak, Byrne moved to Sydney in 1987, playing 21 games for the Swans before his retirement at the end of the 1989 VFL season.
He started his coaching career as Wallabies kicking coach in 1998, before joining other national programs in Scotland, South Africa, and New Zealand, where he was part of three Rugby World Cup campaigns.
In 2016, Byrne was signed to work as Australia’s national skills coach through until the end of the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
Under that deal, he will lead the ARU's development and running skills programmes across all levels of representative rugby, including junior teams and Super Rugby.
(LS June 28, 2017)
Career
 |
Fiji Head Coach |
2024 - present |
 |
Australia Coach |
2016 - 2019 |
 |
Fijian Drua Head Coach |
2023 - 2024 |
