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Michael Cheika is back in Australian rugby - as a commentator

16th February, 2021
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16th February, 2021
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Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika and all-time leading try-scorer David Campese have been added to the Nine Network’s new commentary team for the 2021 Super Rugby AU season.

Cheika coached Australia from 2014 until the end of the 2019 World Cup, and has since worked with Argentina during their Tri Nations campaign, as well as the Sydney Roosters in the NRL.

He also spent some time working on TV in the UK, and has said he’ll be aiming to give viewers a “different view on the game”.

“I can’t see myself on the microphone asking questions but [my job will be] around giving people who are watching the game a different view on the game and insights into what might be happening in the background and on the field,” Cheika said to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“There is going to be a whole new viewing audience to get a look at rugby. Lots of different outlooks on the game will maybe help people connect with the game. I think people who have watched the game for a while, they know what’s going on, so they might be interested to hear some different points of view.

“I remember coming back from the 2015 World Cup after it being on free-to-air on Nine and it really touched a lot of people who wouldn’t see the game before. I think it’s a good chance to give an insight to those people and the loyal rugby fan who has been watching the game for years.

“Obviously I have an interesting perspective because I have been on the other side. If you have an opinion, it’s based on evidence, not just a thought. It’s also about trying to connect the dots for people around what players and coaches are thinking or doing as opposed to judging them. I won’t be going on TV to judge anybody.”

Campese, the Wallabies’ all-time leading try-scorer and a World Cup winner in 1991, has also worked on TV before, in his case in South Africa, as well as in a range of coaching roles.

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“I’ve always wanted to be in rugby,” Campese said to the Herald.

“I just think I’m old enough now to understand the game pretty well and just try and give a different aspect. Over the last couple of years I think the game has been neglected in knowledge of the game. I’m not saying the guys who have been there don’t know the game, but I’m a bit different.”

Cheika and Campese will join the rest of the Nine/Stan commentary team, which includes hosts Nick McArdle and Roz Kelly, play-by-play callers Sean Maloney and Andrew Swain, and former players Allana Ferguson, Tim Horan, Morgan Turinui, Drew Mitchell, Andrew Mehrtens and Justin Harrison.

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