Waratahs prop Harry Johnson-Holmes believes the club is building something special after signing an extension with Australian Rugby.
The 25-year-old, who holds British citizenship, labelled the decision to knock back several offers from Europe as 'easy' as he re-committed until 2024
“When I got the opportunity to look at the options on the table and weight up the pros and cons, it really became an easy decision,” Johnson-Holmes told reporters.
“The place is in a really good spot at the moment. Things are only going to get better and I’m really enjoying my time here at the Tahs. The ability to force my way back in the Wallabies set-up has been a good positive as well.
“The hunger to get back on the International stage is still driving me so that’s a massive incentive for me. It was pretty easy in the end.”
Johnson-Holmes recognised the 'narrative' to leave the club and head overseas would've been easy for anyone to understand.
After all, he is yet to add another Wallabies cap after his infamous pub call-up and the club was coming off a winless Super Rugby season.
However, any thoughts of departing quickly went out the window, especially as the Waratahs turned around their fortunes, leading to his selection in the Wallabies' first squad of the year.
“It’s indicative of this place even with such a rough last two years for myself, it could have been easy to see the narrative that I would go off somewhere else and find a new change of scenery. Even with all that, I’m so confident with the changes we’ve made in the past six months that I’m really excited for where the club is heading,” he believes.
“I think what we’ll find over the next couple of years if we keep going on the trajectory is the Waratahs becoming what it once was - a club that everyone wants to be a part of.
“That’s the vibe at the moment, this fear of missing out almost that everyone’s looking at their contracts and probably thinking ‘I’m off this or next year, what have I got to do to make sure I’m sticking around.’”
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Whilst the World Cup in 18 months is a huge motivator, Johnson-Holmes was more focused on delivering further success with the Waratahs in the quest to re-establish the club as a powerhouse in Australian Rugby.
“There’s a lot of incentives in terms of that World Cup and in terms of the Waratahs, I think everyone is feeling that buzz of winning," he added.
"What we’re doing isn’t a fluke…we’re not world-beaters yet but we’re really seeing that strong correlation between the work we’re putting into the results we’re getting.
“It’s very exciting because it’s only been half the year and one pre-season so the future is looking bright with the blokes we have in this team and the coaching staff giving us the tools to get and play better. Everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon because we’re going places."
