Good morning G&GRs and welcome to 2025, Tuesday style. Happy New Year to you all, hopefully you’re all well and working off the extra padding that comes with Christmas and New Year gatherings.
A few key topics to cover today: Super Rugby Pacific squads, the possible new broadcast deal for RA, and speculation about the future of the Wallabies coaching.
Super Rugby Squads
Now that the Australian cricket teams have slain the English 16-0 and qualified for the World Test championship next year it’s time to turn our attention to matters of most importance, the Australian rugby teams and how they may fare this year in SRP 2025.
Speaking of SRP, it kicks off on Friday, 14 February with the teams who’ll be vying for 2nd to 13th place in action on the opening weekend, while the Reds (likely champions for 2025) will give everyone a head start and make their season debut on Friday, 21 February.
2025 Squads
There’s been a lot of player movement within Australian SR teams, with the Rebels players being distributed to the other Oz sides. I have two thoughts on this: I can understand the financial decision to the let the Rebels fold, which means that the players have to go somewhere, but I’m concerned that the immediate sugar hit of our remaining 4 teams becoming more competitive this year will also mean less opportunities for developing players to move into SR squads with the impact to be seen in future years. We’ll have to wait to see how it plays out.
The NSW Waratahs
The perennial February SR champions, the Waratahs, have been bolstered by imports from the Rebels including Wallabies Lancaster, Leota, Kellaway, Kailea and Tupou. They also welcome back Dave Porecki from long term injury and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii from league via the Wallabies tour. They’ve had players move on with Dylan Pietsch and Harry Johnson-Holmes heading west and Swinton and Hanigan heading north.
There are a few key questions for the Waratahs this year: how much power and depth do they have in second row, where and how well will JAS play, and who will play 10 and control the game for the Waratahs?
For mine the biggest question there is who will play 10, and will they be able to help Gordon set the tone and direction for the team. Neither Edmed or Bowen have made the spot their own, and while Lawson Creighton has experience at 10 for the Reds, his best position seems to be in the outside backs. If the Waratahs are to be a threat they’ll need one of the 10s to put his stamp on it.
While they may have 3 of the 4 Wallabies props this year, and some very good players, the squad looks like a growing one rather than a winning one. They’ll be competitive, and coach McKellar will improve performance, but they might just miss out on a finals spot behind the Brumbies, Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Reds, and Fijian Drua. The Waratahs will jostle with the Force to be the third ranked Australian team and sneak into the finals.
The Western Force
The Western Force have a pretty handy and settled looking squad, and with Jeremy Williams and Darcy Swain have a mobile and very effective locking combination. Ben Donaldson is maturing into a good number 10 and it’s exciting to see how he’ll go this year if given the responsibility of starting. Hamish Stewart is solid and makes the players around him better, and Pietsch, Potter, and Grealy are a very good back three. Grealy broke his try scoring duck against Wales last year at Suncorp and is primed to make a decent impact. Tizzano, White, BPA, Harry Johnson-Holmes and Bayley Kuenzle bring leadership to the group, and hopefully the Force can perform better on the road and make the finals this year.
The Brumbies
When there were three Australian teams, the Brumbies became everyone’s second favourite team, and they played the most attractive rugby of the three sides in the 90s. Then came the Jake White era followed by the Dan McKellar era of forward dominance and rolling mauls. However, we have started to see the full field game emerge again under Stephen Larkham, and they are well placed to go deep into the season this year.
The squad boasts an enviable line-up of Wallabies with Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Len Ikitau, Noah Lolesio, James Slipper, Rob Valetini, and Tom Wright regular starters throughout 2024, and with Charlie Cale, Jack Debreczeni, Lachlan and Ryan Lonegran, Andy Muirhead, Cadeyrn Neville, Ollie Sapsford and Corey Toole in the squad they have a lot of depth and quality to draw on. The experience at 10, with Noah, and Debreczini, and the game breaking of Tom Wright may be the most telling as we get into the pointy end of the season. Not in any way, shape or form dismissing the contribution of Bobby V, which will hopefully be massive again and translate into the Wallabies in 2025.
The Queensland Reds
Which brings us to the Queensland Reds, who have arguably benefitted the most from the Rebels axing with Lachie Anderson, Josh Canham, Filipo Daugunu, Matt Gibbon, Mason Gordon, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Louis Werchon joining the Reds from the Rebels. The Reds also welcome back Isaac Henry and Connor Vest from long term injuries. Isaac Henry was the form inside centre in Australian rugby before his injury last year, and hopefully he can recapture that form in 2025.
The Reds are starting their 2025 season with a two game trip to the UK running out 14 Wallabies in the starting side that thrashed the Bristol Bears in the first game on the weekend. It was a squad team from the Bears, but still an impressive score to rack up.
The Reds have power, depth and pace across the park this year, and there’s competition in every spot. It’ll very interesting to see how the coach manages the squad to get the most out of the players and existing combinations while giving enough game time to keep players sharp each week. We could realistically expect to see a lot of Reds players (with some Wallabies as well) running out for club sides in the Hospital Cup each week.
The Reds have plenty of depth in the forwards, a Wallaby credentialled front row including Matt Faessler, power and size in the second row with LSL, Angus Blyth, Josh Canham, Connor Vest and Ryan Smith as options, and lest not forget the back row that includes Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, and Liam Wright, not to mention Seru Uru, Joe Brial and John Bryant.
The Reds backline have pace, size, power and guile across the positions, but it may come down to the direction provided by Tate McDermott, and whoever plays 10. Lynagh looked composed and quality in his time on the field and hopefully his off season has allowed him to grow strength and confidence in his body to withstand the SR season and push for the more Wallabies honours. Harry McLauhlin-Phillips looks busy and industrious when he is on the field and, like Lynagh, is a reliable kicker in play and from the tee. Mason Gordon may be another option at 10, or as cover at 15. The performance of the Reds’ 9, 10 and 15 will be critical to the Reds going from a team that keeps other teams honest to one that gives the competition a real shake. I’m excited to see how the Reds go this year and I think they’ll battle it out with the Brumbies to be the best placed Aussie side.
Wallaby Watch
It’s a massive year for Australian men’s rugby with the Lions tour and you’d expect some bolters to put their hands up for higher honours. On the other hand, we saw 47 different players in the Wallabies team in 2024, so, what do you think, is there anyone new who will press for selection this year? Maybe Isaac Thomas, he might just be the number 12 we’ve been looking for if he can recover the form he had last year. Or maybe the jet shoed Corey Toole could make his way into the team.
I’m interested to see who else you think can impress this year.
A new TV deal
In news that’s sure to get a lot of coverage over coming days and weeks, it looks promising that Rugby Australia may be getting a revenue increase from the next TV deal. As reported on the Roar here, RA could be seeing upwards of a 30% increase in broadcast revenue from the next deal, which is good news for the code if it’s spent wisely. Time will tell.
Who will coach the Wallabies in 2026?
There’s plenty of speculation on whether Joe Schmidt will be staying on as Wallabies coach after the British & Irish Lions series, and I for one, hope that he does. After a decade of decline following the 2015 World Cup final loss, it’s been great to watch Wallabies games and see the players and team perform well. There have been mis-steps (most notably at the Elephant’s Graveyard in Argentina) but the team has improved their skill execution, fitness, tactical awareness and execution in recent games. It’s been wonderful to watch and to have a sense of hope that more improvement is to come.
It’s impossible to ignore the timing of Michael Cheika moving on from the Tigers, and being available just when the Wallabies job might need filling again. For mine that would be a step backwards as, while Cheika has a proven record as a provincial coach, his strength seems to be in turning around underperforming teams. The Wallabies aren’t underperforming, they are growing and improving, they don’t need shaking up, they need continued skills development, more strategic and tactical awareness, better fitness and time together under a trusted and steady hand. I hope that’s Joe Schmidt for the Wallabies, and to be honest, Cheika’s talents may be better suited to the English, or Japanese sides, who might both be in line for new coaches if they don’t start winning more.
That’s a wrap for me this week, thanks for making it this far and let me know what you think in the comments, particularly about squad players that I didn’t acknowledge and that you expect to make a big statement this year.
Cheers
RAWF
