{"id":583439,"date":"2026-04-03T19:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583439\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T19:19:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:19:13","slug":"waratahs-veteran-playmaker-considers-future-after-strong-super-rugby-pacific-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583439\/","title":{"rendered":"Waratahs veteran playmaker considers future after strong Super Rugby Pacific season"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Seated in an interview space at Rugby NSW\u2019s headquarters, Waratahs coach Dan McKellar is answering a question about veteran playmaker Jack Debreczeni. Only a small slice of the Waratahs\u2019 practice field is visible, but given that training finished half an hour ago, McKellar can picture the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look out there now, he\u2019ll be out there somewhere with Jack Bowen and the young tens. And I think that\u2019s something they\u2019ve really craved,\u201d McKellar says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember even chatting to Tane [Edmed] last year, and everyone knows who the young tens are that have come through the doors over the last few years, but since Bernard [Foley] left, they haven\u2019t had an older statesman to help guide them.<\/p>\n

\u201cA coach is a coach, and we coach them hard. But having that player to talk to in the dressing shed and stay on the grass with post-training and just chip away at your craft…\u201d<\/p>\n

McKellar pauses and nods \u2013 \u201cthere he is\u201d \u2013 as Debreczeni jogs into view, retrieves a ball and disappears again.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 it\u2019s valuable,\u201d the coach concludes.<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Debreczeni on the attack for the Waratahs against the Blues.Getty Images<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t have been a better set-up, even if McKellar tried. But the vignette was nothing more than standard behaviour from Debreczeni, and one of the biggest reasons why McKellar convinced the 32-year-old to hit pause on retirement plans last year and join the Waratahs.<\/p>\n

Debreczeni, a journeyman who has played with eight clubs across three countries since 2013, was looking to hang up his boots after a third season with the Brumbies. The plan was to move back to his hometown of Sydney with his wife Melissa, and open a coffee shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t anything from the Tahs at that point, I was just content to try and move on to the next phase of my life,\u201d Debreczeni said. \u201cWith us wanting to progress the next stage of our life around family, that weighed bigger than playing rugby. But then Dan got in touch and asked about the opportunity to play here, and yeah, it married up pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debreczeni signed a one-year contract, amid external expectations he would be a senior statesman coming off the bench for NSW.<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Debreczeni at his first club, the Melbourne Rebels.Scott Barbour<\/p>\n

But fast forward to the mid-point of the Super Rugby Pacific season, and Debreczeni has proven to be far more than a bit-part player.<\/p>\n

After three games off the pine, the experienced No.10 has started the last three games for the Waratahs and been a noticeably influential figure. Called up to start after the Waratahs were smashed by the Hurricanes, Debreczeni steered the Tahs to better performances against the Reds and Blues, and last week helped NSW upset his old club, the Brumbies, for the first time in Canberra since 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an awesome experience to go back and play against a lot of friends down there in a club that I hold in high respect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Debreczeni will return to a second old stomping ground in as many weeks in Hamilton, where he played with the Chiefs in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n

The task will be arguably even tougher, and while the veteran No.10 and McKellar both talked down potential insights Debreczeni might have into the Chiefs\u2019 weak points, there\u2019s no mistaking the fact he will again be a key figure for the Tahs.<\/p>\n

Already, however, the viewfinder is being widened to the future again. With Debreczeni off contract and the Waratahs no further down the line to bedding in a long-term No.10, there is already a growing consensus that the veteran is the best option to keep going with NSW in 2027, if he can stay fit.<\/p>\n

So is Debreczeni keen to go around again?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage of life, I do take it week to week, and I\u2019ll make that assessment at the end of the season,\u201d he smiles.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game itself, I feel like I\u2019m in a really good place with how I\u2019m seeing the game, how I\u2019m feeling momentum shifts in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, my body\u2019s good, and I\u2019m happy to keep ticking along and making sure I put in all the hard work. But as long as those two keep marrying up, yeah, I\u2019ll be definitely open to playing on in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the wisdom of 13 years of professional rugby, Debreczeni is often labelled a player-coach by McKellar. He is interested in coaching post-retirement, whenever that comes, after dipping a toe in by coaching the Brumbies under-19s last year.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Massimo<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI try to not sound like an old bugger to some of these young guys, but I do just try to pass on any knowledge I can, and pass on probably more the mistakes that I made. So hopefully, these young guys in our team don\u2019t have to make those same mistakes and I can try to accelerate their learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Age is just a number right? Particularly when five-eighths are now playing on deep into their 30s?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably one of my bad habits that … I age myself out: \u2018I\u2019m 32, I\u2019m too old\u2019,\u201d Debreczeni says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife says the same thing, like stop saying you\u2019re too old because it becomes part of your belief system. So I am trying to be better at making sure that I\u2019m conveying that. I am still going OK, I\u2019m still good enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I will just probably take it week by week, and at the end of the year, I\u2019ll have a discussion with Dan and see where everything at, both from a family perspective and body\u2019s perspective. Then we\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch every match of Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> live and exclusive on Stan Sport<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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\"IainIain Payten<\/a> is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-583439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583439","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=583439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}