Michael Cheika would make a great NRL coach - shame it’ll never happen

Of all the names that have been tossed up for the new vacancy at St George Illawarra, the most left-field suggestion is Michael Cheika. 

The former Wallabies coach is likely to be on the lookout for a new gig after guiding Argentina in their Rugby World Cup campaign later this year and it is not as fanciful as it initially seems to think he could switch codes and be a success in the NRL. 

Unfortunately, it’s extremely unlikely to ever happen. 

Cheika is a career coach who retains the fire in the belly which made him so successful in winning trophies in Europe with Leinster and at home with the Waratahs, and helped him take the Wallabies to the World Cup final against the odds in 2015. 

Michael Cheika is adored by his Argentina players. (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

Wherever he’s gone, his players have loved him and his latest stint at Argentina, after being parachuted in last year when Mario Ledesma quit after a 53-7 thumping from Ireland, has resulted in seismic wins over Australia (to the tune of 48-17), England at Twickenham (for the first time since 2006) and the All Blacks in New Zealand.

Not only that, he has rugby league experience after taking on the Lebanon role as well, taking the Cedars to the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup before they were outclassed by the Kangaroos. 

The guy can clearly coach. The camaraderie he quickly builds in teams is his strength, much in the style of Wayne Bennett at club level or Mal Meninga for Queensland and Australia. 

Cheika knows the ins and outs of the game and has been used by the Roosters in recent years to give them a fresh set of eyes on how they go about their business on the training paddock and playing field.

Many NRL clubs would be mad not to think outside the square to consider someone of Cheika’s skill and experience. 

He would clearly need an experienced offsider by his side if he made the jump to league, an assistant with tactical nous for the Xs and Os of league, which is more technical and less bash and barge that many outsiders think.

There is a surplus of those kinds of assistants who could very well be head coaches around the NRL traps at the moment, like Josh Hannay at the Sharks, who not only performs that role for Craig Fitzgibbon at club level but alongside Maroons legends Billy Slater and Cameron Smith in their Origin set-up.

Josh Hannay. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

However, the conservative nature of NRL boardrooms means it would be highly unlikely for any of them to take a punt on Cheika despite the overwhelming wealth of evidence that suggests he would be worth serious consideration. 

The Dragons quickly ruled out any likelihood when reports emerged that an associate of Cheika’s had sounded out club officials as they went through the process/charade of giving Anthony Griffin this season as a runway to prove he deserved another contract, which was never going to happen. 

NRL clubs love to proclaim they will conduct an exhaustive, often curiously referred to as a “worldwide search” for their next appointment before then selecting someone two towns over on the limited rugby league atlas. 

And they love coaches who have an affinity with their club so it’s no surprise that the leading contenders for the St George Illawarra gig are three former Dragons representative stars in Jason Ryles, Dean Young and Ben Hornby.

Other options like Hannay, Souths assistant John Morris and even Cheika are worth serious investigation by the Dragons as they complete their “due diligence” in their mission to replace Griffin with the right candidate. 

Michael Cheika takes part in Roosters training drill during his stint as Waratahs coach in 2014. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

NRL clubs in Australia also have a long memory and the inglorious stint of former Wallabies coach Alan Jones in the early 1990s is another factor that weighs against Cheika’s credible claims. 

Jones took over at Balmain in 1991 when Warren Ryan left for Wests after taking the Tigers to back-to-back grand final heartbreaks because he thought “the juice had been squeezed” from the ageing roster. 

Over the next three seasons, the Tigers won just 24 of 66 games under Jones, finishing 12th, 10th and 15th before reverting to the tried and true method of bringing a favourite son back as coach in Wayne Pearce. 

A more appropriate comparison for Cheika would be Andy Farrell. 

The league legend, after 14 seasons with Wigan and England, finished his playing days with a stint at Saracens, becoming a dual international in the twilight of his career.

After rising through the rugby coaching ranks at Saracens and as an assistant with England and Ireland, he’s got Irish eyes smiling brighter than ever over the past three years.

Farrell guided Ireland to a historic series win over the All Blacks last year in New Zealand and has recently added Six Nations glory, completing the triple crown and grand slam along the way, as the Irish head into the World Cup with the No.1 ranking.

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone on the Emerald Isle who cares one iota about his league pedigree.

Andy Farrell holds the Six Nations trophy. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Rugby league coaches have successfully plied their trade in rugby for many years with the likes of John Muggleton, Les Kiss, Anthony Seibold and Ryles briefly, and now Brett Hodgson under Eddie Jones among the many Australians who have translated their 13-player code knowledge to union.

Jones, an ardent league follower like Cheika, knows the value of league expertise and has never been afraid to call them onto his staff despite the varying degrees of ongoing animosity between the codes.

Like Farrell, fellow English leaguies like Phil Larder, Shaun Edwards, Kevin Sinfield and Mike Forshaw have done likewise. 

It shouldn’t be a one-way flow of traffic.

Cheika is likely to receive plenty of offers from cashed-up European clubs, if he hasn’t already, before the Pumas kick off their World Cup campaign. 

His ultimate goal is, like Jones, to one day return as Wallabies coach to complete unfinished business. 

Whether a league stint would help or hinder that ambition is debatable but NRL clubs should be willing to check, check, check Cheika out rather than always take the safe option.