Michael Cheika addresses Waratahs and Emus players at Penrith training on Tuesday
Photo: Penrith Emus

by Brendan Bradford –

Since his appointment as Waratahs coach in late 2012, Michael Cheika has engaged with club rugby and embraced it as the talent pool for his squad. Cheika has given many of the Shute Shield’s brightest prospects valuable experience of life at the elite level with invitations to Waratahs training sessions and to last year’s NSW Barbarians tour to Argentina.

Waratahs captain Dave Dennis with
Penrith coaches Teki and Ben Tuipulotu
Photo: Penrith Emus

For the Waratahs coach, it’s all about making sure club players are ready to step up to the rigours of Super Rugby at a moment’s notice when injury or Test selection depletes his squad. We saw the fruits of this in a greenhorn Waratah side’s gallant 28-13 win in Perth over the Western Force during the Lions Tour last year.

But for many in clubland, it’s about so much more.

Last Tuesday, Cheika took a group of Tahs – including captain and local junior Dave Dennis, Sekope Kepu and Wycliff Palu – out West to a Penrith Emus pre-season training session. While the fully contracted players like Palu and Kepu gave pointers and ran through drills, another group trained with the full Penrith squad. Cheika was hands on during the two hour session, coaching the Emus in the finer points of the breakdown – an area both Penrith and the Waratahs are seeking to improve.

“There was a focus on the ruck area, which we need to concentrate a lot on,” said second year Penrith coach Teki Tuipulotu.

“We all know our players can attack, but I’m more concerned with our ruck defence and other issues in that area and the response from our boys was very good.

“It was an awesome experience for some of these kids out West and good to get recognised. It makes them feel a bit special I suppose to be training with the Waratahs.”

Waratahs tyro Will Skelton meets Teki Tuipulotu
Photo: Penrith Emus

Promising Waratahs lock Will Skelton, who grew up in Western Sydney, also attended the session and said the attention Cheika was giving the Emus should make players across the West aware of the opportunities and pathways available for them in the code.

“The main thing was to let their [Penrith’s] players know the things we’re practising and really get that mindset around New South Wales that if you’re called up to the Gen Blue or Super Rugby Tahs team, you’ve already got a brief outline of what we’ve got going on,”  said Skelton.

And how did the Penrith boys go?

“They killed it,” Skelton enthused. “They put in a great session and I spoke to a few of our boys afterwards and they said they were pretty banged up. The Emus guys were just really eager to learn and that’s what it’s all about. We want people who are like that; really eager to play and train hard and they loved it.”

Skelton made a splash in the blue jersey last year with a dominant performance against the British and Irish Lions at Allianz Stadium and says his story is achievable for anyone living out West.

“I played league in the Parramatta district where, yeah, sometimes rugby is a bit neglected,” he said, “but it’s always an option that I think more young players should consider. I switched in school when I was 15 and now I’m playing for the Waratahs. It’s crazy when I think about it. From a school team to playing professional rugby – I just hope parents aren’t neglecting that opportunity.”