Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Michael Cheika puts most blokes to shame.
While accusations of men being unable to multitask are as old as time, Cheika has made a living out of it. He might even be the busiest person in Australian sport.
Less than 48 hours after helping steer the Sydney Roosters to an NRL title as Trent Robinson’s right-hand man, the larger-than-life former Wallabies coach turned up to his new digs at Daceyville in Sydney’s inner south. He had been announced as the Waratahs’ next coach six weeks earlier.
“It was my first time to Daceyville,” Cheika told this masthead. “I wanted to check it out; I hadn’t been there.”
Jaws dropped when the 59-year-old arrived.
The playing group might have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2015 World Rugby coach of the year, but most had given him a leave pass given the events of the past two days.
After all, they thought he’d still be nursing a sore head after the Chooks scraped past the Knights 19-18 to secure their first NRL title since 2019, with celebrations continuing deep into Monday morning.
One Wallabies player even said, “Shouldn’t you be hungover?”
Cheika, it is said, shot back: “We’ve got a job to do.”
Asked about the interaction, Cheika said: “I had the Monday off but was in there straight away … I wanted to show them I mean business.”
Cheika, who is also currently overseeing Lebanon’s World Cup campaign, admits that life has been busier than usual.
His last day off?
“I can’t remember,” he said, having phoned between one-on-one meetings with his new-look Cedars playing group. “But that’s how it should be. It’s never a chore.
“It’s full on. You’re always hoping to win the title, but going through to the end and winning it, it’s made it a bit more difficult. But I love it. The plates are spinning, though.”
A father of four, Cheika added that his wife, Stephanie, has almost lost track of who they should be tuning in to watch on television.
“She doesn’t know which team to support every now and then,” Cheika laughs, having taken Leicester Tigers to the Premiership final during his one season in charge of the English heavyweights, in 2025, before joining the Roosters under Trent Robinson for one season.
On Friday, they’ll have the Cedars kit on as Lebanon try to do the unthinkable and topple Tonga, who last week smashed England 30-12 in their World Cup opener.
Lebanon, who made the quarter-finals four years ago under Cheika’s watch, suffered a comprehensive 42-18 defeat to Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby in their tournament opener.
Despite the team being rank outsiders, Cheika isn’t squirming.
“We’ll be the underdog for pretty much every game we play, but that’s OK,” he said. “I’ve always loved knockout footy, dating back to when I was with Leinster. I think it gets the best out of me.”
Cheika’s decision to return to Australian rugby in mid-August shocked many.
Not just because Cheika had previously never gone back to an old job, but because many thought he wouldn’t return to the 15-person game until after he’d taken on the challenge of being a head coach in the NRL.
“Who says I won’t go back?” Cheika said. “I had some meetings, but it’s always about timing.”
Asked if he ever expected to coach the Waratahs again, Cheika didn’t dance around the subject.
“No,” he said. “It happened very quickly”.
Indeed. Mere weeks before signing on, he had met and told Stephen Hoiles, who was applying for the top job, to be prepared for his interview.
‘I love it. The plates are spinning, though.’
Michael Cheika on his hectic 2026 schedule
The next minute, Cheika had been headhunted for the role as Dan McKellar’s replacement after a wave of calls from the playing group, and the rugby-following public. Hoiles, who featured in Cheika’s Super Rugby-winning 2014 class, was named his assistant.
Since then, Cheika – the first person to win major domestic titles as a coach in the northern and southern hemispheres (Leinster, 2009; Waratahs, 2014) – has been as busy as a bee floating in and out of meetings and trying to firm up his roster and get his plans in place to help resurrect his home state.
Asked if he’s a better coach now than the one who bowed out of Australian rugby in 2019after the Wallabies’ World Cup exit in Japan, Cheika says he is but adds “it’s all subjective”.
“I’m a more experienced coach now. I’ve simmered down a bit as I’ve got older. You’ve got to. But you get to know yourself more as a person and as a coach. You become more self-assured.”
The Waratahs have only made the Super Rugby semi-finals once (2018) since Cheika left in 2015, with the side missing the post-season in each of the past three years. It’s led to a revolving door in the head coaching space since 2020.
So what’sthe missing ingredient?
“I think they just need to learn what it takes to win,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything with the skill set.
“I think that self-confidence and self-belief is really important. When you feel that, the game becomes different. You might be doing exactly the same things, but the game becomes different.
“A lot of people talk about what winning looks like, but sometimes if you haven’t done it, you’re not sure.
“So it needs that direction and drive, so those lads can be taken to a place where, ‘OK, this is what is required.’ Even that may not be enough because there’s other good teams there. But this is what we can do from our end. I really do think it’s about that.”
Rugby Australia, which owns the Waratahs, will be desperately hoping that Cheika once again has the Midas touch.
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