New Waratahs assistant Tom Carter is hoping he can translate his success in the Sevens program to the club he holds close to his heart.
Carter joined the Waratahs as Head of Athletic Performance as part of a complete revamp of their coaching staff.
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The former centre is a legend of the blue jersey with close to 80 caps, tasked with taking the Waratahs to elite levels of fitness and conditioning.
Not content with sitting back and criticising from afar, Carter passionately talked about what it meant to see the club struggle in past years, having claimed two wooden spoons in four years.
“I've loved the place. I've been here over a third of my life, so to be able to help contribute with a world-class coaching group in Dan McKellar, ‘Catty’ (Mike Catt), Dan Palmer and Lachlan McCaffrey, I feel like I can offer something to help them, not only take the Waratahs back to their glory days, but help build something really sustainable across our pathways and academies," he told Rugby.com.au and RugbyPass
“(It’s) an enormous job and it's something I feel very excited about and proud to be involved in.
"...We need to be getting us to be able to represent something that people want to come and support us with. The fans have stayed loyal to us in tough times and we're mindful that we need to be able to put a brand or product out in the field that people want to come and watch and support.
“I think like everything, you're never that bad when you lose and you're never that good when you win. There’s some stuff that was really good here, but we're just trying to create an environment where the players get better every day.”
Carter has built a reputation as one of the fiercest trainers in the sport with the Women's Sevens program.
There wasn't much the side didn't win under Carter's training, taking out Commonwealth Games gold, two World Series and a Rugby Sevens World Cup.
During this time, the term 'crunning' (crying/running) became part of the team's vernacular as the title grew, with Carter conceding it was tough to leave after the Olympic heartbreak.
“It was very hard, I knew it was happening towards the end of the Olympics and came home, and we were obviously very disappointed," he admits.
“I don't think that result should define that group…they've been incredible for a long period of time and the connections you have with the girls, physios and support staff (like) Scotty Bowen, our bonds will keep forever.”
The big challenge for Carter and the Waratahs will be the health of their stars after a dogged run of injuries over the past 12 months.
The side's fortunes collapsed as every contracted front row went down injured at some point in 2024.
Former Wallabies captain Dave Porecki was on the sidelines all year with injury, whilst Angus Bell managed just six appearances before needing foot surgery.
They were forced to loan in Pone Fa'amausili and Argentinan prop Enrique Pieretto, with Pieretto's injury one game into his stint summing up their run of injuries.
“It's always multifaceted but I think Dan McKellar's a great leader, and Dan Palmer's done a really good job, so we just try to be as integrated as we can," Carter said when asked on the injury crisis.
“You tend to be able to get lost in the importance of front row or tight five in Test and Super Rugby and we're really mindful of that so we focus a lot of our attention on that.
“We need really good depth there. We’ve obviously got some international players away at the moment who'll come back in, but you can't have enough front rows in Super Rugby.
“It's a war of attrition at times, so judge us on those results, but at the moment we're heading in the right direction, although there's still a lot of bit of work to do in that space.”
