Michael Cheika is the owner of one of the most illustrious coaching careers in rugby history, spanning five countries, and over two decades.
With a resume as storied as his, which includes a five-year stint as the Wallabies head coach, it’s easy to imagine that the game of rugby’s shine may have dulled for the 54-year old.
However, speaking to Sporting News, Cheika explains why this is not so, and how he maintains the same love for the game that he has always had.
On his playing days with Randwick
“At Randwick I had a lot of fantastic memories; finally getting into the first grade,” Cheika said.
“I think there were some stages in that Randwick team where I was the only player who hadn’t played for Australia.
“I had a couple years where I didn't play in their colts, to get into the first team was a pretty highly qualified team back then.
“We found some old VHS tapes, I watched I think it was the 1992 grand final with my kids, and they were laughing, going ‘What’s this game? Where are you? Have you actually done anything?’ It was totally different back then.”
On the players that inspired his career
“Playing with a lot of those guys was the highlight for me, I think that was a lot of my learning about coaching as well, it was more from the players I had than anything else around me,” Cheika said.
“The Ella’s, Simon Poidevan, David Campese, David Knox, the Burke brothers, that was an iconic era.
“Then I suppose my contemporaries as well that I played alongside were leaders, like Phil Kearns; they taught me a little bit about everything, all parts of the game.
“Even though I probably socially wasn't in that mix with them - I was a different character, I wouldn't have been classic rugby, I came from a rugby league school and had my own thing going on - I'd always just lived up the road from that ground (Coogee Oavl) so I watched the games and I knew the identity of the team and how they like to play running footy, and that really appealed to me.”
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On mixing his on-field and off-field roles
“The game hasn’t changed, as in that part and the love for the game and what the game is,” Cheika said.
“The business side you’ve just got to compartmentalise that as a business, you’ve got to have a clear divide of when you’re running a business.
“You’ve got to have a clear divide of when you’re running a business, when you’re there and you’re running the show.
“When you’re building relationships and doing that, and then when you’re having to make those other decisions, whether they be around expenditure, roster planning, whether they be about facilities or infrastructure, you’ve always gotta make the assessments for the best interests of the club.”
On keeping the joy in rugby
“There's sometimes you’re flicking through and you’re watching, there's a game on, a random game from somewhere around the world and you start watching it and you just get into it for the sake of the enjoyment,” Cheika said.
“I think really, the only games you need to be watching with that rugby head are your teams and maybe teams that are going to play your teams in the near future, or if you’re specifically looking for trends in the game, what’s going to happen there.
“Otherwise you’re just looking to go and enjoy the game, that’s the fun part of it.
“Even sometimes as a coach you get caught in that, I remember a game between Leinster and Munster which is the big rivalry, and we were playing in Croke Park, a really historic place in Ireland, 80-odd thousand people, and I had Johnno Gibbs, a former Chiefs and All-Black who was coaching with me, and I said to him ‘mate what are we actually doing here?’
“You had to of course then re-focus on what you need to do on game day, coaching, but you’ve got to enjoy the event always, and keep it in its real context.”
Check out the full video below.
