{"id":534514,"date":"2026-03-12T01:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T01:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534514\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T01:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T01:49:08","slug":"waratahs-coach-backs-rising-star-to-shine-against-reds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534514\/","title":{"rendered":"Waratahs coach backs rising star to shine against Reds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dan McKellar has made six changes to the NSW Waratahs<\/a> starting side ahead of this weekend\u2019s derby against the Queensland Reds<\/a> in Brisbane, which includes a maiden Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> start for highly rated prospect Sid Harvey.<\/p>\n

Harvey debuted at Super Rugby level last weekend as an impact player off the bench, injected into the contest around the one-hour mark against the Hurricanes<\/a> in Sydney. While the Waratahs lost that round four fixture 19-59, Harvey still emerged as a shining light for the home side.<\/p>\n

That debut marked another milestone in Harvey\u2019s rapid rise through rugby\u2019s ranks, having played for Australia<\/a> on the HSBC SVNS Series last season. Harvey\u2019s crowning moment on the world\u2019s premier sevens circuit was a last-gasp match-winner against Fiji<\/a> at the Hong Kong Sevens.<\/p>\n

The outside back returned to 15s with the Australia U20s side, selected in the starting side for all three Rugby Championship<\/a> U20s fixtures in South Africa. Harvey made five appearances at the World Rugby U20 Championship<\/a> in Itay, starting each match at fullback.<\/p>\n

Harvey didn\u2019t look out of place in Cambridge Blue during the inaugural Super Rugby AUS season either, standing out during the team\u2019s run to the title. Coach McKellar has spoken highly of Harvey, who will start for the Tahs against the Reds on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was probably one of the shining lights from last Friday,\u201d McKellar told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just got this air of class about him, Sid, both as a footballer and as a human being. He\u2019s got time, very composed, doesn\u2019t get rattled.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year we sent him away for the different experience to play sevens and be in a professional environment, always with the intention of bringing him here, and since he\u2019s set foot in the door after the sevens experience he\u2019s been very good.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of our best in the Super Rugby AUS competition and continues to take every opportunity he\u2019s been presented with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playmaker Jack Debreczeni<\/a> and former Reds lock Angus Blyth<\/a> are also set for maiden Waratahs starts at Super Rugby Pacific level. This will be Blyth\u2019s first time facing the Reds at Suncorp Stadium since making the move south to New South Wales<\/a> before the season.<\/p>\n

Brisbane-born hooker Ethan Dobbins<\/a> has been brought into the run-on side, while Triston Reilly<\/a> shifts from the wing to the midfield. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii<\/a> has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, meaning Joey Walton<\/a> will partner Reilly in the midfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just next man has got to step up,\u201d McKellar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously disappointing to lose any player to injury. To have \u2018Su\u2019 on the sidelines\u2026 next person has got to step up and you\u2019ve got to get on with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt capped off what was a pretty disappointing last Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one wants to be injured. He\u2019s a footballer and he wants to play football and he needs time in the saddle and more game games to keep building his performance and understanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a silver lining, he can work on other areas of his game to make sure that he comes back, hopefully in six weeks, in really good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Waratahs started the 2026 season with 36-12 win over the Reds at Sydney\u2019s Allianz Stadium, with Max Jorgensen<\/a> stealing the show with a double. Reds captain Fraser McReight<\/a> produced a try-saving tackle and a try assist just before the half, but it wasn\u2019t to be for the visitors in the end.<\/p>\n

Queensland had a bye in the second round but have since gone two-from-two, returning to winning ways against the Highlanders<\/a> in Brisbane. The Reds followed that effort with a dramatic 34-31 win over the previously unbeaten Brumbies<\/a> in the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve gotten better, haven\u2019t they? They\u2019ve certainly improved,\u201d he reflected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that when they\u2019re in Sydney, they were down a couple of players. They\u2019ll be a far greater challenge at Suncorp and we know we need to be significantly better than we were at home last week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dan McKellar has made six changes to the NSW Waratahs starting side ahead of this weekend\u2019s derby against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-534514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}