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Waratahs 2025

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Up until this year his kicking game wasn't up to scratch and I was told that was a reason he wasn't getting selected.

He was been fantastic this year with the opportunity. His kicking has definitely improved. It would be good if he could get more height on his box kicks but they're at least adequate now.

The rest of his game has been superb.
 

Tazzmania

Jim Clark (26)
Tupou heading overseas?

Wallabies legend drops bombshell regarding Taniela Tupou’s future

Waratahs and Wallabies tighthead prop Taniela Tupou has been linked with a shock move away from the Sydney-based Super Rugby Pacific outfit.

The 28-year-old joined the Waratahs on a one-year contract from the Melbourne Rebels when they were axed from Super Rugby Pacific at the end of the 2024 season.

READ MORE
 

Raytah

Sydney Middleton (9)
Will miss raw power without Tupou, Gleeson and likely Leota next year. All have their limitations though so possible to upgrade.

Philip and a fit Lee-Warner will help a bit, and have high hopes for Talataina.

Probably need to look at recruiting or developing. Kemeny, Swinton or Scott-Young would be good 'off the shelf' buys, but suspect expensive and / or contracted.

Maybe someone who puts their hand up in Shute - I've like the look of Sam Allsop, Clayton Franz & Jaiden Christian as project players.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
These names also free up money to go to market. Hopefully with Philip any talk of Blyth can go away and I'd be after an established 6 if Leota moves on. A guy like Kemeny would be top of the list and give time for players like Doyle, Brial to blooded the right way. Doyle played the trials this year and was a dominant forward through the Super Rugby U19s. I reckon we see him feature on the bench next season.

There will also be natural movement amongst players in Aus. Joe Brial is off contract at the end of 2025 and with those around him having singned extensions and Bryant signed for 2026 he could be looking for a place to start games... Could also like the idea of coming back to Syd and playing with his younger brother. Charlie Cale and Lachlan Hooper also off contract and would be familiar enough with DM.
 

Wilson

John Eales (66)
The big issue for tahs is tight head (assuming Tupou goes). It doesn't look like either of Botha or Amone are any better than a bench option right now (Amone has good potential though), and most of the local options are pretty well locked up. Near as I can tell Feao Fotuaika is the only one in Aus who is available and he'd only be a minor upgrade. They'll need to get into the international player market pretty quick to avoid having to pay overs for someone, and to assure they can get any foreign pick cleared, which might be tricky if Fotuaika, Toomaga-Allen and Atu Moli are all going around again next year reducing the number of wallaby qualified tightheads.

From a money perspective I'm not sure the departures free up a lot of cash in the grand scheme - Tupou and Leota (if he goes) being ex-rebels means they may have been somewhat outside the cap, and Tupou is largely covered by his wallabies deal anyway. Gleeson last re-signed in the middle of 23, before playing Australia A, so I'm not sure he would've been on too hefty a deal. Gordon's departure is probably the one that will go furtherst, as it will free up cash for the tahs and RA, and there's probably a good chance RA will be willing to throw a little bit of that Teddy Wilson's way if they need to.
 

Wilson

John Eales (66)
I can't see JTA (Jeffery Toomaga-Allen) moving at this point - he's 35 with a young family setup in Brisbane and well integrated into the community. I think it's an even chance he retires next year, but the Reds will try and get him to play on for another year or so to bring De Lutiis and King through. It's not impossible the tahs lure him south, but I think they'd need the Reds to not want to keep him at all. Even then he wouldn't be much more than a bandaid solution, particularly given his recent injury history.
 
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The Ghost of Raelene

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Some positions you can't have it all if your'e the Tahs. I think next year will be another step forward in some areas and tread water in others while guys like Will Goddard come through who is as good as King IMO but did an ACL a couple of weeks ago. Did an absolute job on NZ in 2023. Edwin Langi is another who will be better for 2 full years of Grade by next year. Both big lads worth holding onto.

Green shoots are there. Gordons injury has clearly developed Wilson into a starting calibre guy. Tah A have got up in all their games for what those games are worth...

Defence wins comps and that needs to get better. Across the board of Aus sides really. Tahs on the weekend were the first Aus side to hold a non aus side below 20 points all year. Finals recipe for disaster.
 

Wilson

John Eales (66)
Goddard and Langi are both good prospects, but neither will be ready for a starting gig (or any further advanced than Botha and Amone) next year. I'm not saying the tahs need a world class tight head, just that they need a reliable super rugby standard one, and of all the open positions they have it's the one that will be hardest to find, so they really need to be proactive in the market. If they don't get that their scrum will look like an achilles heel for at least a season, and management of Bell's minutes will probably get more difficult. I guess they might look at shifting Lambert across, but that always takes time and I'm not sure it'll help them much next year.

I do think they probably also need to find at least one more experienced back to have around the group, whether or not they are actually in the regular 15/23, though a starting centre would probably be perfect, particularly from a defensive perspective. That is predicated on the idea that they'll lose Foketi though, which I think is pretty likely but yet to actually play out. The rest of the open/potentially open positions can probably filled well locally (assuming good retention), though there might be some question marks at hooker depending on how Porecki holds up.
 

The GroundsKeeper

Allen Oxlade (6)
I believe that another Prop option that Mackellar should be looking into should be Jack Barret, He has one a prem at Joey's, played Aus under 20's and come through the pathway's
How come he hasn't been looked at yet?
 
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