Waratahs have a coach short list of three, but keen to make it four
The Waratahs have narrowed their search for a new coach down to three applicants but will wait until the 11th hour to see if Simon Cron also throws his name into the mix.
The Herald and The Age can reveal the struggling franchise have settled on Darren Coleman, John Mulvihill and John Manenti as the three leading applicants.
Darren Coleman during his days as Gordon head coach. Credit:Stuart Walmsley
The trio will all be interviewed in the coming weeks before a final decision is made.
But the one name not on the list of applicants which both the Waratahs and Rugby Australia will reach out to in the coming days is Simon Cron.
Cron, who led Northern Suburbs to a Shute Shield title in 2016, coached the Junior Wallabies and formed part of Daryl Gibson’s staff before being poached by former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen at Toyota Verblitz, has not applied for the role.
But he is sought after by new Waratahs chair Tony Crawford and RA, who will both reach out in the next 48 hours to ask whether he is genuinely interested in the role.
Simon Cron was the man most likely for the Waratahs before he chose to leave for Japan.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
Cron signed a one-year extension with Toyota just before the Waratahs sacked Rob Penney and subsequently decided it would be disrespectful to apply for the NSW job.
If the governing bodies cannot convince Cron to apply, the job will be handed to one of Coleman, Mulvihill and Manenti.
Coleman and Manenti’s credentials are well known.
The former led Warringah and Gordon to Shute Shield titles before following several other Australians to the Los Angeles Giltinis.
Sources close to Coleman have told the Herald his family have not moved to LA as was initially planned, such is his interest in the Waratahs job.
Manenti is the current Australian women’s sevens coach and would be available to take the Waratahs job after the Tokyo Olympics.
He coached Eastwood to three Shute Shield titles and is still the director of rugby at the club.
Manenti also has the support of many powerful figures in Sydney club rugby circles.
Mulvihill, a former assistant coach at the Western Force between 2005 and 2009, has been plying his trade with respected postings overseas for much of the last decade.
Mulvihill’s most recent job was head coach at the Cardiff Blues but he stood down from his post after three years in charge earlier this year.
Prior to coaching Cardiff, Mulvihill worked in Japan’s Top League at the Honda Heat and Kintetsu Liners.
Interim co-coaches Jason Gilmore and Chris Whitaker missed out on the final cut.
In Wallabies camp, the Lonergan brothers are striving to become the first brothers to play a Test alongside one another since the Fainga’a’s.
Lachlan, the younger brother, is a strong chance of making his Wallabies debut given his strong season for the Brumbies and the position he plays in a side which lacks depth – hooker.
“It’s pretty obvious for us. It’s whoever puts their best foot forward at training and trains well. Whoever is in the best form at training is going to be selected on game day,” Lonergan said when asked if there was an early favourite to win the first No. 2 jersey of the international season.
“At the end of the day you just have to train hard, do what you do best and selection will come off the back of that.”
Ryan was called into the squad as a replacement for injured Waratahs captain Jake Gordon.
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