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Kurtley Beale has discussed his Wallabies ambitions with new coach Joe Schmidt ahead of his return to Super Rugby with Western Force.
Beale has arrived in Perth on a short-term contract as cover for injured Harry Potter, having played a couple of matches for Randwick. He sat out 2023 while engaged in a court case and was subsequently acquitted.
The 35-year-old had denied sexual assault allegations but was suspended from all forms of rugby after his arrest in January 2023.
He continued to train away from the game to keep himself in shape to relaunch his career.
“I feel like I’ve got a lot to add to the game,” Beale said.
“I had a year off last year and it was a great opportunity to really focus on my physical being, my mental well-being.
“I trained all that time for this moment now and again I’m very thankful for the opportunity here and I’m just really excited for the challenge ahead.
Kurtley Beale during an Australia Wallabies training session at Sanctuary Cove on August 23, 2022 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
“I’m hoping that I’ll be able to kind of go back to the level playing that I’m used to and hopefully progress, keep growing as a player.”
Beale has been capped 95 times for the Wallabies and acknowledged he’d be keen to add more.
“I had one brief chat [with Schmidt]. He’s got a busy job at the moment in terms of settling in himself,” Beale said.
“Basically he just wanted to see me play some rugby… hopefully I’ll be able to put in some consistent performances for the selectors to be able to look at.”
Beale said he hoped to inspire better performances from the Force, who are bottom of the table despite the influx of his Wallabies mate Nic White, and Ben Donaldson, this season.
“Quite a young group, young guys aspiring to be rugby players over here who don’t really get that much opportunity to interact with international players,” Beale said.
“I guess part of my job being here is also helping those young guys come through and help them with the little areas of their game to be able to take it to the next level, and I’m really excited about that.”
He has spent time playing for Force coach Simon Cron in the past and hopes the partnership brings rewards for both.
“I just had a meeting with him then. I just said, ‘mate, honesty is the best thing’. And I think that’s where I get a lot of my growth.
“And no doubt we have that really good relationship and bond to be able to get the best out of each other. And no doubt I’ll be pushing him and the rest of the guys in the squad. We’re all got that common focus and common goal, which is to progress further, start winning games.”