Wallabies halfback Jake Gordon has all but pledged to remain in Australia in a huge boost to his NSW Waratahs on the eve of their Super Rugby Pacific crunch match against the ACT Brumbies.
Ahead of his long-awaited comeback from a knee injury on Saturday night, Gordon revealed it was "looking that way" after deciding to stay in Sydney rather than accept a big-money overseas move.
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The inspirational Waratahs skipper had been linked to Exeter in the English Premiership after RA blocked a desired move to Perpignan last year, following a brief non-playing stint at Toulon after missing 2023 World Cup selection.
But Gordon says he has "unfinished business" in Australia ahead of the British and Irish Lions' winter tour down under and the home Rugby World Cup in 2027.
And, while taking a subtle dig at former national coach Eddie Jones, the 31-year-old credits incumbent Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt for deciding to stay in Australia.
"It's probably because over the last sort of two years, probably stemming back from Toulon when that didn't happen and when Eddie was still here at the time, I was definitely open to the opportunity to see what was out there," Gordon said after the Tahs' captain's run on Friday.
"Then those conversations with Perpignan happened pretty quickly, following that, and a little bit's changed from probably last time I was looking to go offshore.
"I really enjoyed my time with the Wallabies last year and really enjoyed my time with Joe. He was really good for my development at Test level and, yeah, I see the opportunity we have here too."
After being exiled from the Wallabies during Jones' disastrous second stint as coach in 2023, Schmidt resurrected Gordon's international career last year.
"The progression that we've had has been really good and I'm not sure if there'd be regret (if I left but) there's a possibility of that," he said.
"I want to keep competing - not that I wouldn't going over there - but I see a really exciting opportunity here in the next two years.
"I want to be a part of it, definitely."
While not ruling out an overseas move down the track, Gordon also sees huge potential in the Waratahs.
If he signs on through until 2028, the 31-year-old would likely end up a one-club servant in Australia with more than a decade of service at the Tahs.
His future all but now decided, barring putting pen to paper, Gordon's immediate focus is on helping the Waratahs remain in the 2025 finals race.
Dan McKellar's side enter the clash with the third-placed Brumbies in Canberra sitting in seventh spot, one point out of the top six, and chasing a first away win of the season.
"Must wins? Yeah, you'd probably start thinking at this time of the year," he said.
"It is a really exciting challenge for us. We probably haven't performed the way we wanted to away from home.
"We've played some really good footy at home, but are searching for a really good result this weekend.
"We believe if we play some consistent good rugby, we'll get a really good result."
