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O’Donnell is joining several age-group peers in the Tahs side to meet the Drua, including Teddy Wilson, Max Jorgensen and Jack Bowen. O’Donnell said he and Bowen had been teammates in a Riverview school team that had suffered against Suaalii for years, starting at the age of 11.
“Me and Jack, we were always 10-12 [five-eighth and inside centre] and Joey was playing 10 in the other team [Kings] and he’d get the ball from 10 metres out and run over everyone and score a try,” O’Donnell said.
“We were also 4′5 and he was 6′3 at that age, so yeah, it was a bit different back then.
“Obviously Joey’s a freak talent … he can play probably all positions.
“I am confident I provide a slightly different skill set that the coaches might want to use, so I’m just going to go about my game like I usually go about it and that’s just hard physical and up front.”
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii goes close to scoring against the Highlanders in his Super Rugby debut for the Waratahs.Credit: Getty Images
Another player making his Waratahs debut against the Drua will be former Rebels prop Isaac Kailea, who suffered the indignity of going from eight Test caps for the Wallabies last year to missing selection in the Tahs’ 23 in round one.
“It is competitive now, one less team, a lot more talent spread out among the Super teams, so I think there’s guys all over that probably missed out on a couple of games,” Kailea said.
“Obviously I wanted to play, the disappointment was there for a couple of days and then luckily [for] the boys weren’t selected for that Highlanders game, we had a game last week against the Brumby Runners team.”
The Waratahs will also begin the defence of their 2024 Super Rugby Women’s title at 5pm on Friday night at Allianz Stadium, in a rematch with beaten grand finalists, the Fijiana Drua.
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The dominant Tahs side will be without several stars, including Piper Duck, Bella McKenzie, Desi Miller and Caitlyn Halse, but coach Mike Ruthven has drawn confidence from the side’s depth and form in the pre-season. That included a two-game tour to New Zealand, where the NSW women lost to the Hurricanes but drew 36-all with last year’s Aupiki champions, Auckland.
It was a good gauge for the Waratahs about where they stand compared to the Kiwi women’s teams, particularly with RA and NZR in talks about a trans-Tasman women’s competition starting as soon as next year, and ahead of the 2029 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“The game needs it … and there’s a huge appetite over there for it to happen as well,” Ruthven said. “We greatly hope we get that crossover.”
O’Donnell is joining several age-group peers in the Tahs side to meet the Drua, including Teddy Wilson, Max Jorgensen and Jack Bowen. O’Donnell said he and Bowen had been teammates in a Riverview school team that had suffered against Suaalii for years, starting at the age of 11.
“Me and Jack, we were always 10-12 [five-eighth and inside centre] and Joey was playing 10 in the other team [Kings] and he’d get the ball from 10 metres out and run over everyone and score a try,” O’Donnell said.
“We were also 4′5 and he was 6′3 at that age, so yeah, it was a bit different back then.
“Obviously Joey’s a freak talent … he can play probably all positions.
“I am confident I provide a slightly different skill set that the coaches might want to use, so I’m just going to go about my game like I usually go about it and that’s just hard physical and up front.”
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii goes close to scoring against the Highlanders in his Super Rugby debut for the Waratahs.Credit: Getty Images
Another player making his Waratahs debut against the Drua will be former Rebels prop Isaac Kailea, who suffered the indignity of going from eight Test caps for the Wallabies last year to missing selection in the Tahs’ 23 in round one.
“It is competitive now, one less team, a lot more talent spread out among the Super teams, so I think there’s guys all over that probably missed out on a couple of games,” Kailea said.
“Obviously I wanted to play, the disappointment was there for a couple of days and then luckily [for] the boys weren’t selected for that Highlanders game, we had a game last week against the Brumby Runners team.”
The Waratahs will also begin the defence of their 2024 Super Rugby Women’s title at 5pm on Friday night at Allianz Stadium, in a rematch with beaten grand finalists, the Fijiana Drua.
Loading
The dominant Tahs side will be without several stars, including Piper Duck, Bella McKenzie, Desi Miller and Caitlyn Halse, but coach Mike Ruthven has drawn confidence from the side’s depth and form in the pre-season. That included a two-game tour to New Zealand, where the NSW women lost to the Hurricanes but drew 36-all with last year’s Aupiki champions, Auckland.
It was a good gauge for the Waratahs about where they stand compared to the Kiwi women’s teams, particularly with RA and NZR in talks about a trans-Tasman women’s competition starting as soon as next year, and ahead of the 2029 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“The game needs it … and there’s a huge appetite over there for it to happen as well,” Ruthven said. “We greatly hope we get that crossover.”
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