Michael Cheika’s one-season stint at the Leicester Tigers ended on the weekend after a narrow 23-21 Premiership final loss to Bath at Twickenham.
The result was not without controversy, with the 58-year-old coach visibly frustrated by a late yellow card given to veteran prop Dan Cole in his final professional game.
Cheika is now considering his next move, and a switch to rugby league may be on the cards.
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts, former Wallabies star Morgan Turinui commented on the idea of Cheika taking on an NRL coaching role.
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“Michael Cheika has the most impressive coaching resume of an Australian in the game at the moment,” Turinui said.
“If the NRL were brave enough to take him, they wouldn’t regret it, that’s for sure.”
Turinui believes this background makes him uniquely suited to handle the weekly grind of the NRL.
“I think he marries that sort of hard edge and grind,” Turinui explained.
“You’ve got to be able to get your players up in June when they’re busted... It’s a grind, week in, week out… he’s lived that in Europe.”
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Turinui also praised Cheika’s leadership and ability to build strong coaching teams.
“Great motivator, good footy coach, but also smart enough to get people around him,” he said.
“He had David Kidwell running defence at Leicester. Lots of those ingredients mean it’d be really interesting to see him do an NRL team.”