NSW Waratahs Announce the Return of Head Coach Michael Cheika

Newly appointed NSW Waratahs head coach Michael Cheika, has officially launched his return to the Super Rugby Pacific franchise, holding his inaugural press conference at Allianz Stadium alongside newly appointed assistant coaches Stephen Hoiles and Wycliff Palu.

The media appearance marks Cheika’s formal return to union following recent coaching roles with the Lebanon national rugby league side and an assistant coaching stint with the NRL’s Sydney Roosters.

Commenting on his return to the team, NSW Waratahs head coach, Cheika, said: “It’s 10 years later, so there’s a different way of what they’ve had applied to them, how they’ve been brought up and coached maybe differently, so I want to show them something new and maybe a different way altogether.”

“There’ll be some things I’m going to do this year that I haven’t even done before so I want to do things differently because I want to get a different outcome.

“I think that this is a very new adventure. I’m not going back to the 2014 or ’15 playbook and trying to reinvent that at all.

“From a point of view of who the club is, I can definitely look back to that.

“We had a very strong identity back then and then as far as footy’s concerned, I want to create a completely new picture,” Cheika said. 

Cheika further expanded on his direct discussions with Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh, regarding his return to Australian rugby union.

“I wouldn’t be the type of person who was going to be persuaded.

“I haven’t really had contact with many people, if anyone, from Australia in rugby since the World Cup in ’19, and I thought that when Phil contacted me, he handled that situation very well, very straight up and down, very direct with how that went down, and I appreciated that.”

“I had to decide in my own head that I could do what was necessary to make the team go well. It’s not about me, it’s about the team.

“Teams need a certain type of coach at a certain time and that fluctuates,” Cheika added.  

Cheika’s appointment reunites the coaching trio responsible for bringing the NSW Waratahs their sole Super Rugby title in 2014, when Hoiles and Palu starred as back-rowers under Cheika’s direction.

Returning to Daceyville 12 years after that championship campaign, Cheika confirmed he is taking over the head coaching duties from Dan McKellar following direct recruitment discussions led by Rugby Australia Chief Executive Officer Phil Waugh.

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