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England legend Mike Catt joins Waratahs' new-look coaching group
By Finn Morton
The NSW Waratahs have made some more headline-grabbing moves in the off-season with the club announcing their star-studded coaching and high performance team for 2025. Head coach Dan McKellar will be joined by three assistants who boast a wealth of quality and experience.
Rugby World Cup winner Mike Catt will serve as the assistant coach for the attack. The former backline utility helped England win the sport’s ultimate prize for the first and only time in 2003, and he’s since transitioned into coaching.
Catt OBE, who was infamously caught on the wrong end of a destructive run by the late Jonah Lomu at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, has experience as an attack coach with London Irish in England’s Premiership, as well as England, Italy and Ireland.
Former Australia A coach Dan Palmer will reunite with McKellar as the set-piece guru, with the pair working together at the ACT Brumbies and the Leicester Tigers. Palmer was a Waratah during his playing days and also donned Wallaby gold in 2012.
Finally, another Waratah will return to the club. Lachlan McCaffrey will be the defence coach for the Sydney-based club in 2025, with the enforcer Act Brumbies enforcer adding invaluable experience after playing stints in the UK, Japan and the USA.
McCaffrey has worked as an assistant for Otago and the head coach for Gungahlin Eagles since transitioning into a coaching career.
Waratahs legend Tom Carter will also take over as the Head of Athletic Performance and looking over the athletic performance program for SVNS Series women’s champions Australia for the last five and a half years.
Catt, Palmer, McCaffrey and Carter have all signed on for at least three years.
“We’re thrilled to have acquired such a well-credentialed and experienced group of individuals to lea our club forward,” Director of High Performance, Simon Raiwalui, said in a statement.
“The process encompassed talent identification and analysis domestically and internationally and I’m confident that these men will each make a positive impact on the Waratahs.
“Our players will be blessed with elite guidance and expertise to progress their careers and bring on-field success to our members and fans.”
This new-look coaching group is another step in the right direction for the Tahs as they look to improve on their disappointing campaign last season.
The Waratahs have been quite busy in the off-season by adding some real firepower to their playing ranks for 2025. Earlier this week, prop Taniela Tupou became the latest Wallaby to sign on for next year’s campaign.
Andrew Kellaway, Darby Lancaster and Rob Leota are other Australian internationals who have inked deals with the franchise. Sydney Roosters flyer is, of course, another massive coup for the club after signing a lucrative deal to jump codes from the NRL.
“Taniela is one of Australia’s best rugby players and any club in the world would be happy to have his services,” Raiwalui said earlier this week.
“His signing is a portrayal of the positive direction that the Waratahs are heading in, and I have no doubt that our members and fans will be eagerly anticipating seeing Taniela running out in sky blue next season.”
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Latest Comments
No he's just limited in what he can do. Like Scott Robertson. And Eddie Jones.
Sometimes it doesn't work out so you have to go looking for another national coach who supports his country and believes in what he is doing. Like NZ replacing Ian Foster. And South Africa bringing Erasmus back in to over see Neinbar.
This is the real world. Not the fantasy oh you don't need passion for your country for international rugby. Ask a kiwi, or a south african or a frenchman.
Go to commentsDont complain too much or start jumping to conclusions.
Here in NZ commentators have been blabbing that our bottom pathway competition the NPC (provincial teams only like Taranaki, Wellington etc)is not fit for purpose ie supplying players to Super rugby level then they started blabbing that our Super Rugby comp (combined provincial unions making up, Crusaders, Hurricanes, etc) wasn't good enough without the South African teams and for the style SA and the northern powers play at test level.
Here is what I reckon, Our comps are good enough for how WE want to play rugby not how Ireland, SA, England etc play. Our comps are high tempo, more rucks, mauls, running plays, kicks in play, returns, in a game than most YES alot of repetition but that builds attacking skillsets and mindsets. I don't want to see world teams all play the same they all have their own identity and style as do England (we were scared with all this kind of talk when they came here) World powerhouse for a reason, losses this year have been by the tiniest of margins and could have gone either way in alot of games. Built around forward power and blitz defence they have got a great attack Wingers are chosen for their Xfactor now not can they chase up and unders all day. Stick to your guns its not far off
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