Having grown up on the northern end of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, promising Warringah and newly signed Waratahs backrower Ned Slack-Smith never thought he’d play against Warringah at Rat Park. 

If fact, the thought of ever lining up against his beloved Ratties made him sick to the bone. 

But Slack-Smith will need to overcome that when he runs out from the away sheds this Saturday, as part of a NSW Waratahs team set to play Warringah and Manly’s Shute Shield sides in the Tahs’ final Super Rugby trial. 

“I think I’ll get away with it this time, but it’s not something I want to do again,” Slack-Smith joked during the week. 

“It’s been great to be back around the club though. I started my rugby with the Newport Breakers, then played some juniors with the Rats. We won the U16s State Championship back in the day and a lot of those boys are still at the club now.”

The 20-year old has taken a rather unconventional road back to Rat Park, having spent the past two seasons since graduating from Barker College on a development contract in Perth with the Western Force. 

When an opportunity popped up back in Sydney though, Slack-Smith said he grabbed it with both hands. 

“Perth was a great experience from a rugby perspective, plus I got to live out of home and on the other side of the country, which probably made me grow up a fair bit. 

“I had to learn to cook for myself pretty quickly and ended up eating a lot of salmon, which I love, but it’s good to back home.

“I was born and raised in NSW and grew up loving the Waratahs so it’s always been a dream of mine to pull on the jersey and I’m working really hard towards that at the moment.”

After playing the majority of his junior and schoolboy rugby at No.8, Slack-Smith spent the past few seasons transitioning into a No.7, where he played with the Junior Wallabies last year. 

“If you look at the way the game is going around the world, a lot of the No.7s are now a lot bigger than they were in the past, plus they are usually still lineout options as well. 

“You’ve really got to be a hybrid backrower in all three positions these days and at the moment, I’m enjoying then challenge at No,7. 

He’s put on 8kgs during an almost brutal preseason with the Waratahs at Daceyville and said he’s looking forward to playing rugby with a bigger frame this season. 

“I’ve worked a lot on my presence at the breakdown, trying to create turnovers and having a high work rate in defence. 

“But at the same time, I’ve tried to maintain the skills you need to play anywhere in the backrow.” 

While Slack-Smith wants to play Super Rugby this year, he said he’s also excited about spending as much time at Rat Park playing Shute Shield as possible. 

“I’m a big believer that the best way to improve is to play and I want to be playing as much as I can this year, whether it’s at Warringah or with the Waratahs. 

“It’s a really exciting time at Warringah. While grade struggled a bit last year, the colts have gone from strength to strength and with Josh (Holmes) moving up to coach grade on the back of the success colts had last year, it’s exciting for sure. 

“I’d love to make my Super Rugby debut this year, it’s been a dream of mine for a long time. 

“But to start I think I just need to keep training hard and when I’m playing in the Shute Shield, try to be as dominant and consistent as possible.”