Waratahs young gun Andrew Kellaway named in seven-man leadership group

THE Waratahs lost over 400 Super Rugby caps last year, giving the club an opportunity to inject young talent into its leadership group.

Andrew Kellaway has been named his the Waratahs leadership group. Picture: Mark Evans

A NEW Waratahs leadership group featuring rookie Andrew Kellaway will steer the club in 2017 and for years to come, coach Daryl Gibson believes.

Gibson asked players to choose their own leadership group and they’ve selected incumbent captain Michael Hooper, Dean Mumm, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Rob Horne, Sekope Kepu and Kellaway as the management figures in the squad.

Gibson allowed players to choose their own leadership group so they can take ownership on and off the field.

“It’s my belief that the team needs to be set up in that way, and our leadership really needs to own decisions and be responsible for a lot of things,” Gibson said.

“We’re developing a tier of leader that is very comfortable with that responsibility, we’ve embraced that.

Andrew Kellaway has been named his the Waratahs leadership group. Picture: Mark Evans

“We’ve been through our growing pains, we’ve lost a lot of experience in the last year.

“Four guys (Dave Dennis, Benn Robinson, Kurtley Beale and Tatafu Polota-Nau) who played more than 100 times for the Waratahs have left our team, that is a great deal of experience gone.

“Our new leadership group is coming through, and some younger guys like Jack Dempsey and Ned Hannigan are finding their feet at this level.

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“They are all young men. The leaders are around that 25 to 26 years of age, we’re at a nice stage of development and they’re growing towards that next World Cup (in 2019).”

All of the leadership group aside from the injured Horne will run out on Thursday in a trial match against the Highlanders at Brookvale Oval.

After coming through the Brisbane Tens tournament unscathed, the Tahs will unleash all of the Wallaby stars that played on the spring tour.

Michael Hooper will skipper the Waratahs in 2017.

It will be the first match for Hooper, Foley, Phipps, Kepu and Mumm since Australia’s defeat against England at Twickenham last December.

Skelton had a stint in England while Folau, Kellaway, Taqele Naiyaravoro and Tolu Latu played in the Tens tournament, in which NSW was the first team to be eliminated on Sunday morning.

“We’re all injury free and that’s positive, going into tournaments like this is always a risk, our attention now turns to Thursday,” Gibson said.

The Highlanders, who rested key All Blacks stars Ben Smith, Waisake Naholo and Aaron Smith from the Tens are likely to field a full-strength squad for the trial as well, given it is the final chance for both teams to play their internationals before Super Rugby begins the following week.

“We’ve been conservative with the introduction of our Wallaby guys, it’s been six weeks for most of those guys and they’ve taken full advantage of that break,” Gibson said.

“I certainly think we will get the benefit of that later in the season.”

While a shoulder problem will keep Horne out of the trial, he is expected to be fit for round one of Super Rugby against the Western Force at Allianz Stadium.

Former Sevens star Cam Clark is in a similar situation, although No.8 Jed Holloway will miss the opening rounds of the season and his position will be fought between Michael Wells and Brad Wilkin.

Originally published as Waratahs young gun Andrew Kellaway named in seven-man leadership group