Michael Cheika has issued an emphatic rebuttal to suggestions he is using the Waratahs as a stepping stone to get a second crack at the Wallabies, saying he is solely focused on bringing Super Rugby success back to NSW.
Cheika fronted the media for the first time in his second coming as Waratahs coach on Wednesday, discussing a range of topics from his time in rugby league, experiences abroad, the playing personnel he has in Sydney this time around, and what the expectations of code-hopper Angus Crichton might be.
But he did not mince words when talk of a Wallabies return was put to him by ESPN.
"No, I want to be really clear about this right, because I knew that would come up -- there's no springboards," Cheika said. "There's no 'I'm going here to get there'. I'm coming here to get this team to try and win the comp. Isn't that what we want to do at the end of the day? That's it.
"And I've always been like this, it's that what you do now and where you are now, how you perform [is how you'll be judged]. Even when I was a player overseas, I'd have a one-year contract; if I play good, well then I'm in charge. If I play rubbish, you can get rid of me.
"That's fair. And I've got to be judged my own performance here now, not on what's happened in the past, not on what could happen in the future. There's no strategy [to get back to the Wallabies].
"My young fella, Carlos, said to me 'if you don't do this, I'm going to apply for the job' because he saw it advertised on Sportspeople, right? And I said to him, 'well, there's no way I'm letting you coach the Waratahs, that's for sure'. So I just think I really want it to be clear that this is where I am, where my feet are, and that's it."
Cheika has signed a one-year deal with the Waratahs with a further one-year option, leaving open the opportunity of a senior international role after next year's Rugby World Cup.
But he has already been linked with England after Steve Borthwick oversaw the country's worst-ever Six Nations, which included an historic first loss to Italy, before the Rugby Football Union threw its support behind the embattled coach.
The Wallabies meanwhile have Les Kiss signed through until 2028, though the pressure will be on the Queenslander to lead Australia deep into the World Cup, with a semifinal appearance probably a reasonable pass mark.
Even still, it's likely that Stephen Larkham could succeed Kiss as Wallabies coach after serving a long apprenticeship in Super Rugby; he was also coach of Australia A during their recent tour of the United States and previously worked as an assistant coach at the Wallabies under Cheika.
Cheika did meet with Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh about the Wallabies job early last year before Kiss was unveiled as Joe Schmidt's successor, and while that conversation didn't progress anywhere, it didn't take long for Cheika to be convinced of a Waratahs second coming when the chief executive came calling about a return to NSW.
"I wouldn't be the type of person who was going to be persuaded, I think," Cheika said when asked why he decided to return. "I appreciated the way that -- I haven't really had contact with many people, if anyone, from Australia in rugby since the World Cup in '19 -- and I thought that when Phil contacted me, he handled that situation very well.
"It was very straight up and down, very direct with how that went down, and I appreciated that and I looked at it as a sign of, 'okay, if that's the way that we can get things done, then, yeah, that opportunity [is attractive]'.
"And I had to feel like I would be the right guy for this team at this time, and then answer in my own head, okay, this is what I think would need to get done. Can I do that? Can I, in the timeframes that I've got and all of that type of thing? And I answered to myself 'yes', obviously, so then it becomes a really exciting opportunity."
Cheika will take charge of a vastly different Waratahs squad than the one he took to the 2014 Super Rugby title that was loaded with Wallabies, with just eight NSW players currently on tour with Australia in England, one of whom, Teddy Wilson, is uncapped.
But he will be able to lean on some of the old guard from that 2014 success, too, with Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley returning for a one-season cameo, and Stephen Hoiles and Wycliff Palu to serve as coaching assistants.
Foley is chasing a Wallabies recall - Kurtley Beale was handed a shock callup by Kiss for the Nations Championship campaign - and will compete for the Waratahs No. 10 jersey with Max Burey and Joey Fowler.
"There's a big scope of player and having that experience back in Bernard and Nick and those guys [is important]," Cheik said. "And let's be clear, they were signed before I was... so they made an intention themselves to say, 'I want to come back here to the club and do something to be successful with the club'.
"They're not coming back because I gave them a phone call, 'so, mate, could you come and help me? No, they made that decision themselves.
"Bernard could have easily just said, I'm going to retire, do some media and take it easy, but he's got ambitions still, and all players like that who have ambitions still, otherwise they wouldn't keep playing, right?"
While Foley will add experience, the Waratahs' prized offseason recruit is Angus Crichton, who like Cheika joins NSW off the back of an NRL premiership with Sydney Roosters.
Crichton, a former schoolboy rugby star way back in 2014, is expected to play inside centre and while there is likely to be some significant rust as he finds his feet in the 15-player game once more, Cheika is adamant he will be a success.
"I didn't talk to him at all about it [code switch] while we were at Roosters together," Cheika revealed. "I think the night of the Grand Final we were sitting on the balcony of the Colleagues Club having a beer and I said, 'okay, what position do you want to play, mate?' And he answered me pretty quickly, so we're really clear on what he needs to do.
"I've had good experience with bringing league guys over as well to rugby, because Angus has been playing league for a long time now; he hasn't played rugby for a while. And I've got no doubts in what he'll bring and how he'll fit into the team, and what he'll bring to the team off the field as well.
"He's a real competitor, he's a great energy guy off the field and all the lads will have an opportunity to get free haircuts obviously."