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Round four or out the door: What’s at stake for Waratahs coach Coleman
By Tom Decent
Waratahs coach Darren Coleman is eager to stay at NSW beyond this season but it is a decision that will be out of his hands, with officials giving the third-year coach four games to show he deserves a contract extension.
Three weeks out from the Waratahs’ Super Rugby Pacific opener against the Reds in Brisbane on February 24, Coleman on Thursday unveiled Jake Gordon as the franchise’s skipper for this season. Dave Porecki (vice-captain) and Hugh Sinclair round out the team’s leadership group.
However, Coleman’s future is up in the air, with early-season results set to dictate whether the NSW Rugby board extend his time at the Waratahs.
Sources with knowledge of discussions, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have told this masthead that a decision will be made around round four on whether Coleman will remain in charge for the 2025 season. His contract is up at the end of this year.
The Waratahs face the Reds (away), Crusaders (in Melbourne at Super Round), Highlanders (home) and Blues (home) in their first four matches.
NSW Rugby chief executive Paul Doorn is expected to let Coleman know by March or April whether there is an appetite to extend his tenure, which began in 2022.
Waratahs head coach Darren Coleman (centre) with leaders Dave Porecki (left) and Jake Gordon (right). Credit: Julius Dimataga
After a winless year in 2021, the Waratahs bounced back under Coleman to finish sixth in 2022. The Tahs posted another sixth-place result last year, but back-to-back quarter-final defeats stung the former Shute Shield winning coach.
In both seasons, the Waratahs were the second highest ranked Australian side.
Meanwhile, Jason Gilmore has been promoted to senior assistant coach at NSW and is taking a more hands-on approach at Waratahs training.
The exit of Andrew Blades, NSW’s general manager of rugby, has forced Coleman to take a greater role in recruitment and other off-field issues, leaving his assistants to be more involved in the planning and execution of training sessions.
A replacement for Blades has not been appointed, but the exact job description is still being worked through.
Gilmore, coach of the Junior Wallabies, has ambitions of becoming a head coach one day and Rugby Australia is keen to keep him in Australia.
Coleman is philosophical about his future. He would love to stay but understands the results-driven nature of the industry.
“I know there are people above me who make decisions about my career, and they will do it with the best interest of the organisation at heart,” Coleman said. “I can’t preach putting the team first and not do it. If the people above and the playing group decide I’m not the guy to take them forward, they’ll do that and I’ll leave here happy I did my best. I love this place. Whatever the role is or how it all works, I’d love to stay and build on it.
“Our goal is to definitely improve on last year. You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out if you want to improve from sixth it’s fifth or above. We want to be more consistent.”
The Waratahs have named a strong team for their opening trial match against the Rebels on Saturday at the Moorabbin Rugby Club.
World Cup Wallabies representatives Angus Bell, Porecki, Langi Gleeson, Lalakai Foketi and Izaia Perese have all been named in the NSW starting side.
However, the Waratahs have more than a dozen players on the injured list, with Jake Gordon (concussion), Mark Nawaqanitawase (knee) and Dylan Pietsch (calf) expected to return for next week’s trial match.
Ned Hanigan (hamstring, round one), Will Harrison (knee, round three), Max Jorgensen (ankle, trial three) and Fergus Lee-Warner (ankle, trial three) are also nursing injuries.
“There’s a few guys on that list [that] if it was a comp game they would be playing,” Coleman said. “We’re not concerned about it. We trained a little differently this pre-season, a bit more intensely, so we’ve had some bodies that have taken a while to adjust to that. It’s Murphy’s Law with injuries; you seem to get them all in the same positional group.”
All three episodes of the brand new Stan Original Documentary Series The Wallabies - Inside Rugby World Cup 2023 premiere February 22, only on Stan.