Wallabies look to league
Coach admits to borrowing NRL ideas
RUGBY UNION: An inquisitive Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has revealed he accumulates footy information by quietly wandering into the training sessions of the NRL’s Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Ahead of the Wallabies’ Test against Fiji in Melbourne today, Cheika said he liked to extract knowledge from rugby league.
A mad-keen Souths fan, Cheika visited Storm coach Craig Bellamy on Wednesday and will catch up with NSW coach Laurie Daley next Thursday.
“I often go, because I’m in the eastern suburbs, and watch the Roosters training. Or maybe Souths on the odd day. I just visit there and have a look. It’s interesting to have a look,” he said.
“I definitely looked at some of those drills and modified them to use for our training.”
Cheika has become close friends with Roosters coach Trent Robinson, with their children going to school together.
The Wallabies coach enjoys chatting with NRL players and he said they showed an interest in rugby union.
“You can never go wrong crossing over with guys at the top of their game in different codes,” Cheika said.
“The one thing I have learnt is that you don’t have to play the game in a traditional way or a certain way. Different ideas.
“You can see how we have probably replicated a bit of league with a lot of our out-the-back runners. They started that. And it works, definitely, in certain circumstances for us.
“The big difference I suppose is how to convert ideas from one to the other because in union, the attack is nearly 10 metres back.
“In league, defence is 10 metres back. Different dynamics but you can apply some of those skills accordingly.
“I grew up playing league so there is an interest there for me. Always has been. I have a lot of friends who played and coached. It’s an interesting game.”
Cheika said the rival codes had a lot of similarities and it would be mad for coaches on both sides not to use mutually beneficial information.
“You can make the comparisons about how you motivate and create the atmosphere for players, getting them up every week,” Cheika said.
“And then it goes right down to the physical preparation. And everything in between. The footy, the skills.
“Some of the ball contests are different but there are big similarities between the two codes. Catch, pass, get the ball over the goal line and stop them from getting over.
“Sometimes it’s just ideas that you see another team do from a different code and you can somehow relate that back to what you’re doing to keep interest, variety and to get something done better.”
Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore has been included on the bench for the Fiji Test, while Joe Powell and Richard Hardwick are set for their international debuts.
Moore was left out of the starting side, with Cheika preferring hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and flanker Michael Hooper as the game-day captain.