Private owners circle Cheika-led Waratahs as Hoiles locks in as deputy

The return of Michael Cheika as Waratahs coach next year may not be the only major change for the franchise, after Rugby Australia were recently approached about the prospect of selling the NSW outfit to a private ownership group.

The news emerged as former Wallaby and NSW back-rower Stephen Hoiles was locked in as Cheika’s senior assistant coach at the Waratahs for next season. That makes him the heir apparent as the Tahs’ next head coach as early as 2028.

Cheika in August agreed to return to the Waratahs, the club he led to a Super Rugby title in 2014. The 59-year-old will start at NSW in November, after he finishes his job as an assistant coach of the Roosters in the NRL, and then leads Lebanon at the Rugby League World Cup.

Cheika signed a two-year deal but with the intention to coach at Test level again, the former Wallabies and Pumas coach has the option to depart the Waratahs after the 2027 Rugby World Cup, when international coaching vacancies traditionally emerge.

Hoiles, who has been coaching in California for the last two seasons in Major League Rugby, is the man who will succeed Cheika, after agreeing to terms with Rugby Australia and the Waratahs for the role of senior assistant coach. The 44-year-old was a member of the 2014 Waratahs’ title-winning squad and coached Randwick to a drought-breaking Shute Shield title in 2023.

The remainder of Cheika’s staff is yet to be finalised, with attack and scrum coaches still to be resolved. Current Tahs’ scrum coach Dan Palmer is set to depart to work in the neuroscience sector, according to informed sources not authorised to comment publicly.

The enthusiasm around Cheika’s return has seen a potential private ownership group express interest in purchasing the Waratahs’ licence from Rugby Australia, according to informed sources, who can’t speak publicly due to confidentiality of the talks.

RA chief executive Phil Waugh was recently approached by a representative of the potential buyers but talks are still very preliminary, the sources said.

Cheika is aware of the ownership talks but is not involved with the group, who view the Waratahs as an undervalued asset, according to parties familiar with the matter. Waugh and RA are believed to be open to the idea of selling the franchise but talks have not yet reached the stage of a potential valuation of the Tahs’ licence, or of due diligence on the potential buyers.

Rugby Australia and Cheika declined to comment.

RA owns the Waratahs after taking over their licence in 2024. The deal, in effect, rescued NSW Rugby from imminent financial collapse, having recorded a $4.8m deficit in 2023 and with forecasts of more similar-sized losses to come.

This isn’t the first time private ownership groups have expressed interest in buying the Waratahs, and even more specifically, a Cheika-led Waratahs.

Arising from a push for more private investment in Australian rugby at the start of the 2010s, three potential buyers made bids for the team in 2014.

One consortium featured former Waratahs and Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer and ex-Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom, and Pet Resorts tycoon David Levy was behind another bid. The group behind ANZ Stadium at the time were also in the mix for an ownership deal, but none of the private ownership options were progressed by the Waratahs board.

Private ownership of Super Rugby franchises in Australia has had mixed results.

When launched in 2010, the Melbourne Rebels were owned by a consortium headed by prominent Melbourne businessman Harold Mitchell. After incurring significant losses that required RA bailouts, the group handed the licence to the Victorian Rugby Union. Another private ownership group, led by businessmen Andrew Cox and Peter Sidwell, bought the Rebels in 2015 but it also struggled financially and ultimately returned the licence to the VRU for $1 in 2017.

The Western Force have been owned since 2017 by Tattarang, the investment company of mining magnate Andrew Forrest.