Waratahs assistant Daryl Gibson threatens to quit if he‘s overlooked for head coaching role

DARYL Gibson is playing a dangerous game with Waratahs powerbrokers, declaring it’s all or nothing for him and the head coaching role. But does he have the support?

HOBART, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 02: Waratahs assistant coach Daryl Gibson looks on during the Super Rugby trial match between the Waratahs and the Rebels at North Hobart Stadium on February 2, 2013 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

WARATAHS assistant coach Daryl Gibson says he will be leaving the team if he doesn’t get the head coaching job to be vacated by Michael Cheika at the end of the season.

Gibson is the favourite to take over from Cheika but remains on a short list of candidates understood to include Nick Scrivener and Scott Wisemantle, and should the popular Kiwi miss out he will not be hanging around to remain an assistant.

“I’d be looking for other opportunities, I’ve made it pretty clear I want to be head coach,” Gibson said.

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The Waratahs have taken an age to name a replacement, with Cheika revealing last October that he would see out the final year of his NSW contract before moving full-time to Wallabies head coach duties, two roles he is balancing this season.

Cheika will start full-time duties with the Wallabies at the end of the Super Rugby season.

But Gibson said he has been assured of getting an answer next week.

“I’m expecting to hear next week, I am really happy with the process so far and happy with my interviews that I’ve had,” Gibson said.

“I believe the process has been rigorous, and a good one.”

With a raft of stars coming off contract who don’t yet know which coach they could be playing under at NSW next year, the Tahs must move quickly.

But there is also the understanding that Cheika handles several important roles from top to bottom and his replacement is unlikely to have the same capabilities or desire to do the same, and therefore the peripheral roles will need to be spread out among assistants.

Meanwhile, Gibson, who handles NSW’s attack, said Sunday’s crunch game against the Brumbies will be won with graft, not highlight reel moves.

“We’ve worked out a few things, it will be less about tricky plays and more about how well we can execute our phase play and our patterns,” Gibson said.

“Whenever you play the Brumbies, the breakdown, contact zone, will determine the winner.”

NSW captain Dave Dennis said the team can handle the loss of powerful hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, who suffered concussion in training this week, leaving Tolu Latu to battle Wallabies veteran Stephen Moore.

The waratahs lose hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau for their clash against the Brumbies.

“You’ve got to have confidence in those other guys, and I do in Tolu, I think Tolu is a great footballer, he learned a lot last year being Taf’s understudy and this is the perfect time for him to step up into that role against arguably the best hooker in the country,” Dennis said.

“There is no bigger challenge and I’ve got confidence in him and [replacement hooker] Hugh Roach as well, Hugh is a really aggressive young positive footballer.”

NSW has two wins and two losses so far this season and have spoken this week about rediscovering the mental edge that won them last year’s title.

“You’ll probably know [if we have it back] in the first five minutes I reckon, when we’re out there on Sunday,” Dennis said.

“There has been a bit more in training this week, guys getting stuck in, hence Taf getting concussed at a training session.

“There has been a bit more vigour at training, the way guys have been running, the way they’ve been tackling each other.

“The biggest thing for us is that the last time we were at home, we let our supporters down, we didn’t play well, that first game of the year against the Force was very disappointing.

“We really need to go out there on Sunday and play our best game of the year so far, that’s what we’re still seeking.

“It’s no secret every Australian team wants to finish top of the conference, we’re no different, but it’s a long season, you saw last season how easily things can shift in momentum.”

Originally published as Waratahs assistant Daryl Gibson threatens to quit if he‘s overlooked for head coaching role