Michael Cheika has returned as NSW Waratahs coach promising a radically different approach, while insisting the one-year appointment is not a stepping stone towards another Wallabies job.
Cheika, who led the Waratahs to the 2014 Super Rugby title, was presented alongside assistants Wycliff Palu and Stephen Hoiles at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday. He said he had no intention of simply recreating the methods that brought him success more than a decade ago.
“I want to show them another way to do things that I think – I’m not guessing, I suppose, but I’m imagining that they haven’t experienced before,” Cheika said.
“There’ll be some things I’m going to do this year that I haven’t even done before. So, yeah, I want to do things differently because I want to get a different outcome.”
Cheika left the Waratahs in 2015 and has since coached the Wallabies, Argentina, Japan and in English rugby. He most recently helped the Sydney Roosters win the NRL premiership as an assistant coach, while also overseeing Lebanon’s Rugby League World Cup campaign, which ended with a dramatic victory over France on Sunday.
Despite his previous experience with Australia, Cheika rejected the idea that returning to NSW was part of a plan to revive his international coaching career.
“There are no springboards [to a Wallabies coaching job], I’m coming here to get this team to try and win the comp. Isn’t that what we want to do at the end of the day? That’s it,” he said.
Cheika said Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh’s approach helped persuade him to accept the role, although he ultimately had to decide whether he could take the Waratahs back to the finals. NSW have not reached the finals since 2023.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” he said. “Teams need a certain type of coach at a certain time, and that fluctuates. You may not be the right guy for that team at that time, and I had to feel like I would be the right guy for this team at this time.”
One familiar figure from Cheika’s time at the Roosters could also feature for the Waratahs, with Angus Crichton recovering from a foot injury and expected to play primarily at inside centre. His involvement would give Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii more opportunity to develop as a winger.
Cheika has previously worked successfully with players who switched from rugby league, including Israel Folau, but said he would not burden Crichton with excessive expectations.
“For Angus, he’ll have his own personal ideas and goals of what he wants to achieve, and then he’ll be part of the team’s goals as well,” Cheika said.
