NSW Waratahs head coach Darren Coleman is eager to earn a contract extension as the club looks to deliver on their potential.
Coleman joined at the end of 2021, inheriting a winless Waratahs side. He instantly turned down around to finish sixth in 2022 as guys such as Mark Nawqanitawase, Dave Porecki and Ben Donaldson earned their Wallabies debut.
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With eyes on a top-four finish in 2023, the Waratahs failed to live up to their expectations, limping into the finals before going down to the Blues in the quarter-final.
It leaves Coleman under pressure to deliver with his contract set to expire at the end of the year.
“I love the job here, of course you’d like to stay on but I can't preach to my players to put team first and I make decisions that start and end player's careers...If the people above, and the playing group, decide that I’m not the guy to take them forward, they’ll do that and I’ll leave here happy that I did my best," he told media.
“I love this place. Whatever the role is, or how it all works, I’d love to stay here at the 'Tahs and keep building on it. I think we’re on something special.
“I think we’ve got a really good roster. If you look at our roster now compared to say 21 when we took over, we’re in a much healthier state with depth and quality of players, more Wallabies and more aspiring Wallabies. I'd like to be around as we send it into a good era."
Coleman's Waratahs start with a tough schedule, facing the Reds in Queensland before taking on the Crusaders, Highlanders and Blues in the opening month.
He is eager to showcase the merits of a higher intensity to training, out to produce a more powerful style of play after crunching the numbers.
“It’s more about paying attention to the science and the stats of the sport,” Coleman explained.
“The ball in play has changed in Rugby at the moment, it’s just in for big chunks of the game. We were fit last year but could probably play longer than we needed to.
“We need to become more powerful and faster for shorter bouts, recover and then be able to do it again.”
Coleman was named a strong side for their opening trial against the Melbourne Rebels, taking advantage of the extended time he's had with his Wallaby contingency following their early World Cup exit.
“We’ve got to improve. We’ve got sixth two years in a row, we need to improve,” he said.
“Our goal is to definitely be more consistent and improve on last year. We had some big occasions at the new stadium which hurt the most which was that first game (against the Brumbies) and last (against Moana Pasifika).
“We want to play good footy at home, we want to make sure that Sydney and NSW fans come along and they’ll see a team that competes hard and is consistent.”
