Israel Folau
Israel Folau could soon be making an appearance in the Waratahs – and even the Wallabies – midfield as he continues to be an unpredictable threat.
The fullback’s midfield ambitions have been given a major boost after Waratahs coach Michael Cheika green-lighted a move for his talented player.
Cheika was careful to put a long lead time on Folau’s dream of donning the No 13 jersey but said such a change would give the Waratahs – and possibly the Wallabies – the element of surprise against their rivals.
“It’s a different way of getting him the ball,” Cheika said.
“At first we knew to stick him at fullback, will kick it to him and he’ll go from there. Now teams are kicking away from him.
“Fullback is his position, but we’re evolving and he’s evolving.
“I’m keen as part of his plan for the longer term, not just this season, for him to really get excellent at fullback, his positional play, and to be 100 percent organised.
“Then we can start to look at other things, but it’s definitely an option for us at some stage, so we can mix and match our players.
“What it does is gives us opportunities, as opposed to having one guy at a time in that position we can start mixing it up, resting guys here and there.
“It’s a heavy program so we have to have good options.
“Whether it’s this year or next year remains to be seen, for me it’s more likely to happen next year.”
Folau modestly ruled out a switch to the midfield at Test level this season but his coach said he could see no reason why the dual international could not make the transition next year.
But Queensland recruit Karmichael Hunt is also on Cheika’s radar, should his switch from AFL to Rugby Union prove a success at the Reds this season.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see how Karmichael goes with his AFL experience, he’s going to be a great defuser of the high ball I would imagine and if he plays at the right quality and we could double fullback those two, it makes it a little bit difficult to get away from someone,” Cheika said.
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