Cape Times

Cheika: Waratahs turned the corner by taking ownership

- Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE: The Waratahs’ two-season transforma­tion from Super Rugby lightweigh­ts to Australia’s major force has been driven by a playing group embracing “ownership” of the club and its culture, coach Michael Cheika told Reuters.

The Waratahs host the Crusaders in the Super Rugby titledecid­er tomorrow, bidding for a maiden trophy in their first final on home soil.

The most consistent and entertaini­ng team in the southern hemisphere competitio­n, the Waratahs have come a long way since their ‘annus horribilis’ in 2012, when they man- aged just four wins and were jeered off the ground by their own supporters.

Cheika, who took over in the wake of that dismal season, doubled the Waratahs’ wins in his first year in charge and has been credited for turning a once-demoralise­d roster into an industriou­s and joy-filled team that prides itself on hard work.

The 47-year-old, who guided Irish team Leinster to their first Heineken Cup trophy in 2008-09, is reluctant to take credit for the team’s transforma­tion but said his players had absorbed one lesson from his staff – the need to take responsibi­lity for the club’s fortunes and failures.

“I don’t know if I turned the morale around,” Cheika said in a phone interview. “I think what we just did, we got in there and said ‘let’s take a bit of ownership as to what’s happening’. Everything goes a bit better if someone owns it. We’ve got some skin in it. Let’s take some sacrifices and take ownership.

“Because it’s not like a privately-owned team. There’s no owner standing there saying ‘come on, you’ve got to do this and that or whatever’.

“We as players and coaches have got to take ownership and take it personally and live it. I think that’s what we’ve tried to do. If you do that, you get more involved and it becomes more a part of you so you feel everything a little bit more and you get more attached and therefore you give more effort and it’s a bit of a circle in that way.”

Though having reached the 2005 and 2008 finals, both times beaten away by the Crusaders, the Waratahs did appear to suffer a ‘tragedy of the commons’ in the final years of coach Michael Foley, with a talent-laden playing roster seemingly unable to translate abundant resources into on-field success.

Slammed by local media for playing an unappetisi­ng brand of rugby, Sydney fans stopped turning up for games amid reports of dire financial troubles at the club.

Tomorrow’s clash may surpass an Australian record for a Super Rugby match and the fans have returned in droves this year as the Waratahs, powered by a sometimes breathtaki­ng running game, stormed to the top of the standings at the end of the regular season.

Like fullback Israel Folau and his Wallabies teammate Kurtley Beale, hot properties in world rugby and wooed by Australia’s National Rugby League competitio­n, Cheika’s future at the Waratahs is also a matter of speculatio­n. Reports have linked the former Randwick No 8 with a role at French giants Toulon, though he has laughed them off.

Winning the title for longsuffer­ing New South Wales fans might be the perfect sendoff, but Cheika said his vision for the Waratahs extended far beyond tomorrow’s final siren.

“What’s important is that we’re leaving something for the next season’s team, something around our behaviour, our culture if you like. About our play, our identity, all those things.

“Last year’s team worked hard on leaving something good for this year’s team to build on. And (it’s the same) for next year’s team to build on. It’s about not just working for the short-term.” – Reuters

 ??  ?? KURTLEY BEALE: Hot property
KURTLEY BEALE: Hot property

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