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'Our House': Coach's crazy bonding exercise as Waratahs sleep at stadium ahead of Super return

15th February, 2023
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15th February, 2023
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Two decades ago Nathan Grey used to walk through the tunnel at the Sydney Football Stadium screaming ‘Our House’. Now, Darren Coleman has taken the mantra to a new level ahead of their return to Allianz Stadium on February 24 against the Brumbies by getting the entire squad to sleep on the field.

“It was about appreciating our new home, become familiar and build a relationship with, what hopefully, will become a really happy hunting ground for us,” Coleman told The Roar.

But it was not until Tuesday morning when Coleman arrived at Allianz Stadium with his sleeping bag that the reality set on the playing group that the coach was serious.

“I think the boys weren’t sure if I was taking the piss or not, but when I turned up with my sleeping bag yesterday morning I think they figured it was real,” he said.

“But it wasn’t just a sleepover. Some might say it’s a gimmick, but I felt the whole thing throughout the day was important.”

The Waratahs slept on Allianz Stadium ahead of their return to the venue on February 24. Photo: Instagram

After four years of playing away from home, Coleman, whose ability to bring a team together is well-documented, believed it was essential for his squad to feel comfortable in their new setting.

While some like Michael Hooper and Jake Gordon had played regularly at the old Sydney Football Stadium, others like Mark Nawaqanitwase have barely stepped foot through the famous ground.

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Indeed, the Wallabies rookie, who burst onto the world stage last November, hadn’t been inside the new stadium.

And for some who played against the Springboks last September, their return to Allianz Stadium hardly went to script.

But Coleman, who quickly went from walking down the streets with a beer in-hand to working with the Waratahs as a skills coach when the stadium was regularly filled two decades ago, wants to ensure the current crop of players feels the same attachment to the ground to those of yesteryear.

As senior player Michael Hooper said in a video: “A home isn’t just a building. It’s the people and the memories that make it home. Legends in Sky blue, [David] Campese, [Matt] Burke, [Chris] Whitaker, [Phil] Waugh, [Lote] Tuqiri, this was their home and it’s finally ours again.”

Darren Coleman had the entire Waratahs squad sleep on Allianz Stadium ahead of their return to the venue on February 24. Photo: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

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The Waratahs squad spent the entire day on Tuesday checking out their new home.

From training to watching a documentary about the making of the Sydney Football Stadium to finding out where partners and family will be sitting, the day was about making the unfamiliar familiar.

The evening’s formalities finished late on Tuesday night as Grey addressed the squad about what it meant to be a Waratah, before the squad hit the pillow at around midnight.

“Then we went on the field and Nathan Grey – and I don’t think there was a more passionate Waratah, there’s great scenes of him walking down the tunnel screaming ‘Our House’ and going through that – spoke to the team about what it meant to him to play there and then we slept on it,” Coleman said.

While some managed to stick it out throughout the night like Will Harrison, Harry Wilson and Harry Johnson-Holmes, others “ran for the hills” when the rain came at 2am and left Izaia Perese struggling with his blanket.

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“Some of the weak grabbed their sleeping attire and went inside to the changerooms and a few toughed it out,” Coleman quipped.

“There was a vast range from Taj Mahal style swags to just blokes with a blanket.”   

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