Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has landed his first ever rugby league head coach role

Michael Cheika has landed his first head coach role in rugby league ... will an NRL top job be the next for the former Wallabies and Waratahs coach.

Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, in Sydney, today. He will be coaching Lebanon in The Rugby League World Cup. Picture:Justin Lloyd

Michael Cheika is joining Lebanon as head coach in what could be his first step into a full-time coaching gig in the NRL.

In another coaching coup for Lebanon, the former Wallabies coach will lead the Cedars into next year’s Rugby League World Cup in England.

Cheika, who’s parents were born in Lebanon, told The Daily Telegraph he shed tears of pride watching the Cedars surge to a quarterfinals berth back in 2017.

So the opportunity to give back to his mother land through the game he not only loves but played growing up in Sydney’s east was one he was never going to turn down.

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Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika will be coaching Lebanon in The Rugby League World Cup. Picture:Justin Lloyd

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity for me to do something that represents the land where my parents came from,” he said.

“That tournament was a chance to show a little bit of the Lebanese culture not to just Australians but for everyone who was watching on TV.

“Sport has an ability to bring people together, it brings out the best in people. I was watching those games, jumping up and down cheering and crying at times.

“There is something about being Lebanese, you can never put your finger on it. I’m born here but when I went there as an adult the first time we landed in Beirut, I really felt a strong connection to the place.”

Brad Fittler graduated into the NSW Blues top job in 2018 after leading Lebanon ‘s campaign in 2017 and while Cheika will always have ‘ambitions’ to coach at the highest level, he said he would take his rugby league journey one opportunity at a time.

Michael Cheika in Japan during a Wallabies training session.

Cheika has been involved in both the 15 and 13 man game in 2020.

The former Waratahs coach is currently assisting Argentina during the Rugby Championship and was part of Trent Robinson’s coaching staff at the Sydney Roosters.

“I’m still ambitious as a coach because I love it, I can’t help it. I’m here with Argentina now because I love it. I just want it to unfold naturally. Being with the Roosters, it’s been insightful but I’m going to take every day as it comes and see what happens from there,” he said.

Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has joined Canterbury as an Adviser to Trent Barrett and former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones was linked to the Cronulla Sharks.

Cheika believes the toughness and the war or attrition in the NRL was a lure for union coaches.

“The NRL in particular is very challenging. It’s something we don’t see as rugby coaches in the Southern Hemisphere, 24 games back to back and then finals, it’s a marathon and it’s a different style of coaching to 14 games of Super Rugby and 15 Test matches over a scattered period,” he said.

“It’s a huge sport in Australia too and those guys would be interested in being part of the pinnacle competitions.”

Michael Cheika joined the Roosters coaching staff in season 2020. Picture: Brett Costello

But for now, Cheika is focused on getting to work building Lebanon’s world cup campaign in his first ever gig as a senior rugby league head coach.

The 53-year old told The Daily Telegraph he would reach out to Robinson and Roosters coaches in a bid to fine tune his technical knowledge of the game.

“Without a doubt. I would be mad not to tap into Robbo’s knowledge and the resource there … Craig Fitzgibbon, Matt King and Nathan Cayless they are all there,” he said.

“Also Brad Fittler, he ran such a brilliant campaign last time around.

“There are technical differences between the codes but the intent is still the same, it’s a contact sport.

“I’ve grown up playing league and have been an avid follower of the game and I have been learning about the technical side of things at the Roosters.”

Off the field, Cheika recognises the important role he and the Cedars will play in bringing respite to a nation decimated by COVID-19 and then the devastating Beirut blast in August.

“It’s not like Lebanon is on the sporting scene in a big way so to give the people a reason to galvanise is one of the great things about sport,” he said.

“To see a country that has had it’s fare share of problems, to give it’s people a reason to cheer that’s only a good thing.”