Dan McKellar commits to Waratahs turnaround despite Wallabies coaching job unclear as Joe Schmidt weighs up future
Despite Joe Schmidt’s future as Wallabies coach remaining up in the air, Dan McKellar has already shut down the prospect of making a bid to lead Australia.
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Dan McKellar has ruled out making a bid for the Wallabies coaching job should Joe Schmidt step down after the British & Irish Lions tour, such is his desire to transform the NSW Waratahs.
Schmidt’s future remains unclear. Rugby Australia has offered him an extension through to the 2027 World Cup, but the master coach has told them he won’t be making any decisions until at least the end of the year.
Schmidt was set to retire before he was approached to coach Australia by director of high performance Peter Horne, and is keen to spend more time with his family in New Zealand, so it is possible the Wallabies job will be vacant by next August.
McKellar and Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss are the leading candidates should Schmidt walk away.
But the new Waratahs coach, who signed a three-year deal with NSW after being axed by Leicester, wants stability for his wife Carla and daughters Amelie and Maya, and is desperate to transform his team into Super Rugby champions once more.
“I’ve just committed here, the last 12 to 18 months has been pretty chaotic for my family,” McKellar told this masthead
“I always said I never wanted to be a coach that moves around from one city to the next. I don’t think that’s fair on Carla and the girls.
“And I certainly haven’t come to the NSW Waratahs and look at this as a Band-Aid approach. I’m in this for the long haul.
“I want to help turn this group of players around and help them get better and individually coach them hard and do the same collectively. And then we can create some memories off the back of it.
“I’m passionate about the game in Australia and my job over the next few years is helping turn the NSW Waratahs around. And if we can do that, that’s only going to be a good thing for the game in this country.”
That will be welcome news for Tahs fans after last season’s wooden spoon, particularly with McKellar taking charge of one of the most star-studded squads in their history, featuring NRL recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, and Melbourne Rebels stars Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota, Andrew Kellaway, Darby Lancaster and Isaak Kailea to join the likes of Wallabies Angus Bell, Max Jorgensen, Jake Gordon and Langi Gleeson.
While Suaalii made a stunning Test debut at outside centre for the Wallabies last weekend, McKellar said the 21-year-old star could feature in a range of roles next year in the Tahs team.
“I speak to Joe Schmidt a lot and we’ve spoken about Joseph and 13 being a position that we both think that he can play,” McKellar said.
“We also both think that he can play fullback and can play other positions as well. It’ll be where’s he going to be the best fit for the Waratahs and also for the Wallabies.
“And if you’re looking at our group, there’s obviously some quality there that can cover 15 with Kellaway and Jorgensen. There’s some good young kids that are coming through as well.
“Is the opportunity initially more on the front line? Well we’ll see. But the way that we will play with our attacking game under Mike Catt, the backline are going to be expected to be multiskilled and the number on their back doesn’t mean a whole lot.
“Once we get into phase play, you’re going to be expected to be able to be a triple threat with the ball through the kicking game and also through your passing game.”
McKellar is Australia’s best-performing Super Rugby coach of recent years and took the Brumbies to the 2020 Super Rugby AU title, while making the grand final the following year before joining the Wallabies as assistant coach to Dave Rennie.
He was signed by Leicester but departed after one season, with former Australian coach Michael Cheika taking over at the English club.
In a twist of fate, McKellar is now attempting to repeat Cheika’s 2014 feat of taking the Tahs to a Super Rugby title.
“The first thing I’d say is to our fans is be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” McKellar said.
“We need to be realistic from where we’ve come from. They won back in 2014 and I coached against that team, and it was a team that was incredibly physical, that was fit and that worked hard and it was crystal clear they knew what they stood for and what was expected of one another.
“And we need to mirror that and we need to understand the Waratah’s DNA, in terms of the style of play and how we play.
“And we need to play to the strengths of our group.
“But get excited, because we’ve got a group of players that are craving discipline, they’re craving coaching, they want to be coached hard.
“They want to know what the identity of the team is and what the expectations are on them from one day to the next.
“And if we can live and breathe that every day and every week and turn up with an attitude to wanting to get better, then we’ll improve quickly.”
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Originally published as Dan McKellar commits to Waratahs turnaround despite Wallabies coaching job unclear as Joe Schmidt weighs up future