Waratahs co-coach Jason Gilmore is confident in the club's future despite admitting that it's been a 'tough' year.
It seems like everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for the Waratahs in 2021.
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From a sacked coach to an injury list that is almost higher than the remaining fit players, the NSW side has gone through hell and back as they fail to record a win in 12 games.
On a young squad, the effects of such a demoralising season could be damaging.
However, one thing that has been very clear to see for coach Jason Gilmore is their ability to stay together and remain positive during the tough times.
“I think the main thing that we’ve learnt is we have a great group of men here,” he believes. “At no stage of the season have they fractured or not put the club first.
“That gives us a lot of confidence that with some smart recruitment and a good pre-season leading into next year, we will be able to accelerate pretty quickly.
“The way that they have hung together as a group has been the main takeaway.”
Heading forward, the club will be boosted by the return of skipper Michael Hooper, who joined an already stacked back-row including Lachie Swinton and Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco.
Gilmore believes further work needs to be done to the forward pack as they look to build experience in their tight five.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that we need to tighten up our tight five in particular, just around the contact zone. Our mauling and scrummaging we need to really pick that up,” he said.
“We’ve got some good guys there but to add a little bit of experience in that tight five and probably another outside back would be handy.”
The Waratahs will finish their season against the Chiefs on Saturday at Brookvale Oval, with the club wearing a specially designed First Nations kit that were presented by winger Tristan Reilly.
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Along with this, players will wear specially-designed boots, which were painted by Sevens' stars Dylan Pietsch and Jordan Williams.
With the Waratahs embracing their Indigenous history, Gilmore was hopeful they could produce a strong performance for the occasion.
“It’s really important. It’s probably something that we need to do more work in that space,” he admitted.
“Tristan’s (Reilly) a proud Aboriginal man and presented the jerseys through the week and I know he’s bitterly disappointed that he couldn’t put the jersey on himself.
“The boys got their boots done up, (Sevens Star) Dylan Pietsch, who’s coming in next year, helped with the painting.
‘I think it’s the start of something special that we can build into the club… I think for the boys, it’s that awareness of what’s gone before them and the occasion won't be lost.”
