Cheika top choice for NSW job as Waratahs party like it’s 2014

Master coach Michael Cheika is now the NSW Waratahs′ preferred candidate to replace Dan McKellar, nine.com.au understands.

It is believed that Rugby Australia - who control the Waratahs - is also exploring the possibility of Cheika working alongside Stephen Hoiles, who is one of the most promising coaches in the country.

The Cheika-Hoiles momentum continued to build at NSW’s Daceyville base on Thursday, as Bernard Foley and Nick Phipps were confirmed as signings for the 2027 Super Rugby season.

Cheika was coach for NSW’s one and only Super Rugby title in 2014, with a team that featured Hoiles, Foley and Phipps.

Hoiles most recently guided the California Legion to the Major League Rugby grand final, which they lost to Chris Latham’s Chicago Hounds.

“It’s hard to get a hold of the great man (Cheika),” Phipps, 37, told reporters.

“I do know there’s been lots of really quality candidates who put their name forward. Like it or not, the Waratahs is probably one of the jewels in the crown of the competition. You want to think that lots of players and coaches would want to be a part of it...

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“Obviously, it’s disappointing not to go the full way with Dan, but I’m certain that whoever comes in next will be great for the squad.

“It’ll be good for the guys in there training this week (to know who the coach will be), and there’s a little bit of uncertainty about how it’s all going and what the future and the scheduling leading forward will be with everything going on.

“It’d be good to put that to bed early and then let them start to impress coaches and get ready for the next season.”

Foley also called on RA and the Waratahs to move quickly on a coach.

Junior Wallabies centre Zach Fittler told nine.com.au that he wanted to stay with the Waratahs, but NSW had not offered him a contract.

The 20-year-old has therefore signed a deal with Pau in France, while Junior Wallabies teammate Leo Jaques has switched codes to join the Cronulla Sharks.

“I think the more ambiguity and the longer it goes, you have to fill the void; otherwise it gets filled by everyone else’s noise and distractions,” Foley said.

“You’d love to see the decision happen as soon as possible.”

Always one to call a spade a spade, Foley admitted it had been tough watching his club struggle from afar in Japan.

The Waratahs haven’t reached the semi-finals since Foley and Phipps left Sydney in 2019.

“It’s been hard to watch from overseas because of the turnover of coaches,” Foley said.

“It’s been hard for the players, you know, and the environment has changed so much. So, hopefully trying to come back and bring a bit of stability.”

There is no shortage of backline talent with Foley and Phipps linking up with Angus Crichton, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Max Jorgensen, Harry Potter, Sid Harvey, Jake Gordon and Teddy Wilson.

“It’s not teaching them anything new, it’s just trying to free them up and let them be rugby players because they’ve got all the ability and all the skill already,” Foley said.

Foley has plenty of ideas to get the best out of Suaalii, who will again start for the Wallabies at outside centre against Japan in Osaka on Saturday night.

“I think he could be interchangeable. If teams are going to kick, let’s put him at the back so he gets the ball as often as possible,” he said.

“I think as a 13, he’s got a great role to keep the front line engaged, but then also his ability to create space for others as well and to use his running game and his offloading game.

“So, I’d probably persist with him at 13, but it’s going to be the nature of the back line and the other players who are available already. But I also don’t think that if you’ve got 13, you always have to be in that position.

“You know, you can interchange him. You can start to evolve his game and evolve the backline in that regard.”

Foley said he was fresh after his career in Japan.

“My last 12 months, my body’s felt really good,” he said.

“I haven’t had many niggles. I feel better than probably when I left here in some regards. I think I also understand the game now at a different level, and hopefully, I’ll be able to now teach that or impart that on a group.

“I think the fact that age is a number and how you manage yourself and get yourself through a pre-season and then a season, but the wisdom and the experiences, that’s something you can really offer to a team.”

Phipps played under Les Kiss at London Irish before his own stint in Japan.

“We certainly wouldn’t be putting ourselves up to that if we think we’d ever let the Tahs down,” Phipps said.

“We’ve got too much respect for the club to do that. Props and second-rowers, they only really get good when they’re 30.

“It seems to be a thing in Australia that once you hit 30, you’re over the hill. It seems so funny to me that over in the UK, they’re the valued guys.”

Foley, 36, is hoping to make a fairytale Wallabies comeback and feature in next year’s home Rugby World Cup.

But the fourth-highest point-scorer in Wallabies history promised to lock in with the Waratahs and bring some confidence back to the troubled club.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on the radar,” Foley said.

“A couple of months ago I was retiring and looking at that. So, there’s a lot of work to be done before then.

“I’ve got to get through a pre-season, get through a Super season, and then try and think whether you can do a home World Cup.

“But there’s not that many, I suppose, players in front of you if you can go and have a good season.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone involved at the Wallabies, and I’m not really looking at it at the moment. But if I can get the body right, get myself into a good position and have a good Super season, then I might consider it.”

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