Michael Cheika interview: I've not mellowed, you need that fire

Telegraph

19 hours ago

'It's a symbolic gesture because the point is that there's a big history here and if I'm going to be running that club, I also need to spend time to learn the traditions and the cultural blend behind the club,' Cheika says. 'Because otherwise, then I might make some decisions that change its course.'
In total, Cheika speaks five languages – English, Spanish, Arabic, French and Italian – the latter two as a result of his playing career in France and Italy.
It was this multilingual ability that landed him a job with fashion designer Collette Dinnigan after his playing career which provided the gateway to him launching his own distribution business. By securing the rights to a jeans brand made famous by Victoria Beckham, he made a fortune which allowed him to carve his own path as a coach.
'I've never coached rugby as a job,' Cheika says. 'I don't want that to sound in a bad way, but I take roles because I have always wanted the challenges. I have wanted to come here, or wanted to do that, and that makes a big difference because you don't compromise as much then.
'I think the only times I've compromised in my time of coaching was because I wanted to stay in the position and both those times it has flopped.'
'My dad never saw his parents again'
Long before coaching or business, Cheika's outlook was shaped by growing up as the son of Lebanese immigrants in Sydney. His father, Joseph, arrived in Australia in 1950 and was dropped off at a Lebanese church in the suburb of Redfern.
'They ended up in a hostel there and across the road was the Redfern Oval where South Sydney Rabbitohs played,' Cheika says. 'One way to integrate with the Anglo-Saxon population and try not to deal with the racism and all that was to go to the footie and mingle. That's how he sort of pushed me down that path.
'We didn't have a lot, but we were very loved. And they were always building. I remember us going from a small apartment to a slightly bigger one, and then rented part of the house, then rented more of the house, and eventually buy that house.'
This has informed his own approach to coaching where he has never been in a role more than five years. 'It has definitely shaped my approach to risk taking,' Cheika says. 'They left Lebanon knowing you'll never probably get back again, and that's a huge amount of risk to take. My dad never saw his parents again. It's easy for us now, we can go and come back the next day if we don't like it.
'I feel honestly, genuinely fortunate to have this opportunity with Leicester. Not many teams are going to take coaches to come for one year, right? So I just wanted to enjoy the experience as a whole. And I have loved it.
'English people have always been nice to me, even when they ripped into me when I was a coach in Australia. But then the people at Leicester, the fans here, it's been another level.'
Leicester head into the Premiership final as 10-point underdogs against a stacked Bath side, but you write Cheika's Tigers off at your peril.