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NSW Waratahs recruits Michael Cheika and Angus Crichton had just helped the Sydney Roosters win the NRL Grand Final when the new coach asked the three-time Premier League winner: “What position do you want to play”
Cheika had not spoken about a move to union with Crichton before that October, as the former Wallabies coach revealed on Wednesday morning. Crichton played schoolboy First XV rugby at Sydney’s Scots College, before initially pursuing an NRL career with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Rugby Australia announced on January 20 that Crichton had signed a contract effective from 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season. The Tahs would later sign former Wallabies halves Bernard Foley and Nick Phipps and secure the return of coach Cheika.
Cheika served as an assistant coach at the Tricolors and took over Lebanon during the 2026 Rugby League World Cup But the 2014 Super Rugby winner was in front of the press at Allianz Stadium, before the Waratahs’ pre-season kicks off early next week.
Crichton, who was named State of Origin Player of the Series (Wally Lewis Medal) two years ago, headlines a Waratahs squad that includes 13 qualified Wallabies. But Cheika didn’t lay out any specific expectations or goals for Crichton’s rookie season.
“I’m not a man with high expectations, because they usually only lead to regrets,” Cheika said.
“The fact that we’re all in the team together, the first thing we need to align with what we want to achieve. For Angus, he’ll have his own personal ideas and goals about what he wants to achieve and then he’ll be part of the team’s goals.”
“I’ve had good experiences bringing in guys from league and into rugby. Angus has been playing league for a long time… I have no doubt what he’ll bring and how he’ll fit into the team and what he’ll bring to the team off the field. He’s a real competitor. He’s a great guy with energy off the field.”
Cheika was not asked to elaborate on what position Crichton could potentially play, but the Tahs listed the 30-year-old as a full-back in their statement last week. It was reported earlier this year that Crichton might line up inside the center or back line.
16 backs have been named in the Waratahs squad, with regular Wallabies starters Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen in the mix. Sid Harvey is coming off a Rookie of the Year season and Teddy Wilson has just been named to the Wallabies for the first time.
But when you scroll through the list of names on that roster, it’s impossible to ignore the inclusion of Foley and Phipps. Daly Cherry-Evans helped Cheika’s Roosters win the NRL last month aged 37, the same age as those two Waratah recruits.
“Having that experience in Bernard and Nick and those guys, and to be clear, they were signed before me,” Cheika explained.
“They themselves had the intention of saying: ‘I want to come back here to the club and in something to be successful in the club.’ They don’t come back because I called them and said, ‘Mate, can you come and help?’ They made that decision themselves.
“Bernard could have easily said: ‘I will retire, deal with the media and take it easy.’ But he still has ambitions.
“Then you’ve got those younger players who have real ambitions than me, but they haven’t achieved it yet and they’re going for it. That whole mix of everybody pushing everything together and creating competition within that will help us benefit from the wisdom, I guess, in the knowledge of the older guys and the energy and, I guess, the ambition of those who want to get those where they want to be.”
