McKellar encouraged as Waratahs look for home bounce back

Wed, Mar 18, 2026, 9:17 PM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson
NSW Waratahs coach Dan McKellar is confident in his team's progress as they embrace the challenge of hosting the Blues in Sydney. P
NSW Waratahs coach Dan McKellar is confident in his team's progress as they embrace the challenge of hosting the Blues in Sydney. P

NSW Waratahs coach Dan McKellar is confident in his team's progress as they embrace the challenge of hosting the Blues in Sydney.

The Waratahs are coming off two straight losses, but pushed the Reds all the way in Brisbane.

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During that game, the match was locked up heading into the final quarter, with an incorrectly denied try and a late Reds push proving the difference.

Despite this, McKellar refused to panic and was taking the positives into Saturday's match.

"I think, I said at post-game, it's the best flow we've got into with our attacking game on the weekend, so there's a lot of good science. Reds defended well in periods as well, so I think there's certainly progression there," he said on Wednesday.

"There's things that we needed to do better, especially in that last five or six minutes of that game. We've got to own that, but you don't dwell on it, life goes on, the competition rolls around very quickly, so you can't sit around feeling sorry for yourself, and we're certainly not, we get on with it now."

The motivation to perform only rises on their return home after a disappointing heavy defeat to the Hurricanes a fortnight ago, ending a streak of two straight at Allianz Stadium.

"We had a disappointing night against the Hurricanes. We certainly reviewed that and forgot about it pretty quickly, and we moved on, and we reviewed the Reds' performance like we'd review any other game," McKellar noted.

"We've got to front up on Saturday night and put in a good performance in front of our fans and supporters and key stakeholders, who we probably felt we let down last time we were at Allianz."

McKellar is looking to build consistency within his selection, with George Poolman the lone new face in the 23 after fullback James Hendren's broken wrist. The injury sees Sid Harvey shift to fullback, with Wallaby Harry Potter elevated to the wing.

"We're not going to be about chopping and changing every week. We've got to start to build some cohesion and some consistency around selection," he added.

WARATAHS (1-15): Tom Lambert, Ethan Dobbins, Daniel Botha, Matt Philip (c), Miles Amatosero, Clem Halaholo, Jamie Adamson, Pete Samu, Jake Gordon, Jack Debreczeni, Max Jorgensen, Joey Walton, Triston Reilly, Harry Potter, Sid Harvey

Replacements: Ioane Moananu, Isaac Kailea, Siosifa Amone, Angus Blyth, Leafi Talataina, Teddy Wilson, Lawson Creighton, George Poolman

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