Last year, the Waratahs coach accused players of being too comfortable. Has anything changed?

1 month ago 16

In May, following a disappointing 15-point loss to the Crusaders in their final Super Rugby home game of the season, Waratahs coach Dan McKellar pointed out there was something rotten in the state of NSW.

In the post-match press conference, McKellar highlighted the need for change at the Waratahs: “There are some people who are too comfortable, and that needs to change. Because if you’re too comfortable, just happy to be here and wear the tracksuit, that will change.”

The Waratahs finished eighth on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder in 2025, with six wins and eight defeats.

As they prepare to face the Queensland Reds in the first game of Super Rugby on February 13, does McKellar believe his players are now suitably uncomfortable and ready to represent NSW?

“I don’t want to be critical of what’s happened here in the past; it’s just that it’s very different to how I do things,” McKellar says at the team’s training base in Daceyville.

“I think you need to go about building an environment that allows for success and winning because, at the end of the day, we need to win, and doing what’s required to win is boring, it’s really, really boring.

“It’s the daily discipline to be able to have good habits on the field and off the field. And to change a habit within a player or an individual human being, it’s difficult, and it takes time ... you can’t just turn up on Saturday off the back of a light and fluffy week ...

Waratahs coach Dan McKellar last season.

“If you look at other codes and other sports across the globe, the teams that train with the highest intensity and can deliver that day in and day out, they’re the teams that are having success.”

After starting the season impressively, with a five-match unbeaten streak at home, the Waratahs were hit with major injuries to their biggest backline threats, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. The Tahs also got a severe bout of homesickness. They won just one game away from home, against the Force in the penultimate game of the season, finishing outside the finals in eighth place.

Suaalii only played seven times for the Waratahs, and while McKellar missed the player’s ability to find space, he still credits him with setting the standards off the field that he believes are desperately needed at the Waratahs.

“What I love about him is how he applies himself at training and the professionalism that he wants to compete in every drill,” McKellar says.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will be key to the Waratahs’ success this year.

“That’s what we need here. You talk about how we can change. Joseph and his professionalism and how he approaches his training, how he approaches his preparation, rub off on others. Players like that are incredibly valuable to your group.”

During the Wallabies’ November tour of Europe, Suaalii regularly struggled to find space at outside centre, after playing six of his seven games last year for NSW at fullback. McKellar remains open to playing Suaalii in other positions if it is right for the team.

“I’m certainly open to it,” McKellar says. “I think the key with any player of his ability is how you can get him into the game consistently.

“That’s the challenge, and it’s not always easy in rugby union. Rugby union is a game that’s built around the contest. Every tackle is a contest for possession ... we don’t want him carrying or touching the ball three times in a game. I want the ball in his hands 10 to 15 times a game, at least in attacking situations; allowing him to do that where he can best challenge the defence and that’s with space.”

Charlie Gamble makes a tackle during the Waratahs’ clash with the British and Irish Lions in July.

A brave performance from a severely weakened Waratahs side against a star-studded British and Irish Lions team in Sydney gave a glimpse of what is possible this season. In the 11-point defeat, young second-rower Miles Amatosero and breakaway Charlie Gamble stood out against some of the world’s best players, giving a hint of their vast potential.

McKellar is also looking forward to the emergence of Wallabies loose-head prop Isaac Kailea after losing the world-class talents of Angus Bell this season to a sabbatical at Ulster.

After playing five times for the Wallabies, Kailea was expected to be an obvious deputy for Bell last season, but struggled to get into the team, spending time in club rugby at Randwick. McKellar has been impressed not only with Kailea’s scrummaging improvement, but in his resilience when faced with adversity.

“We’ve worked hard with him on his set piece and around his scrum, in particular,” McKellar says. “Isaac came across to start playing loose-head prop not that long ago.

Isaac Kailea in action for the Wallabies.

“He was outstanding last year and didn’t sulk and understood the reasoning [for being dropped]. He’s worked hard with [scrum coach] Dan Palmer and myself to improve on those areas.

“As a rugby player, he’s a real point of difference. He’s got good footwork, he’s powerful, he’s aggressive. He can be a real threat on both sides of the ball. He’s in a position to really take off in 2026.”

McKellar endured a challenging first season at the Waratahs, but has retained perspective about what really matters and is striving to find greater balance in his own life away from the demands of Super Rugby.

“There is nobody who puts more pressure on me than myself, to be honest,” McKellar says.

“The expectations that I have of myself and making sure that I allow these players to develop and give them a program and an environment where they can be the best rugby players and the best team that they can possibly be ...

“I don’t get scared of the pressure; I certainly don’t care what the keyboard warriors think.

“I need to improve balance. My family’s in Brisbane at the moment, so I need to make sure that I’ve got balance within my own life, so that when I come through the door on Monday morning, I’m feeling refreshed and energised and ready to go. Because if you’re not, the players will certainly crack onto that and the staff will be exactly the same. Looking after yourself and making sure that you’re having a life away from the laptop and the coaches books and the training field.”

McKellar is a keen rugby historian and is keen to challenge his players to consider how they will be remembered. He doesn’t just want to create a winning environment at the Waratahs, he wants to leave a legacy.

“How are we going to be remembered, and who’s going to remember us, and what do you need to do to be remembered?” McKellar says.

“There’s over 100 years of NSW teams and if you ask the general public how many and who do they remember, I think it would be pretty narrow.

“As a group we need to really get after that and buy into what we want to be remembered for.”