Taniela Tupou warming to life in Sydney under 'firm but fair' Dan McKellar

Reluctant recruit Taniela Tupou is suddenly loving life in Sydney and talking about helping restore the NSW Waratahs to past glories.

Tupou is among an influx of Wallabies stars to arrive at the Waratahs for the 2025 Super Rugby season following the demise of the Melbourne Rebels.

But while others jumped at the opportunity to resurrect their careers within Australia, Tupou wasn’t convinced the Waratahs would be the right home for him and his family as he weighed up lucrative offers to head overseas to Europe or Japan.

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“Yeah, before signing into the Tahs, I was not a big fan of Sydney because of all the traffic and I just thought it was too big for me,” the powerhouse prop admitted on Thursday.

“But I moved here and no, I’m loving it, man.

“It’s so close to everything. I’m not far from training, not far from the airport, so the missus and little fella love it, so it’s been good. So far, so good.”

In the end, Tupou – who has yet to truly reach his immense potential after battling mostly calf and Achilles injuries – decided no-nonsense former Brumbies coach and Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar was the man to bring the best out in him.

“I had a few options but I spoke to Dan before I decided to come here. I felt like I made a hard decision,” he said.

“He’s tough – tough but fair – so I knew he’ll help me to be a better player and if I wanted to challenge myself, working under Dan McKellar, I do that.

“Plus obviously a few guys from the Rebels were coming here, and obviously a few guys that were playing here already, it made it easier for me to come here.”

A former Queensland Reds stalwart before having the one season in Melbourne, Tupou has long been a NSW State of Origin fan so he has gotten used to sledges coming from north of the border after joining the arch-enemies.

The 28-year-old’s firm focus is trying to enjoy a rare injury-free season and peaking for the back end of the Super Rugby season before hopefully playing a key role for the Wallabies in their much-anticipated series against the touring British and Irish Lions.

“I’m good, I’m healthy. Fingers crossed that it will be like that the whole season,” Tupou said.

“The last few years I’ve been very unlucky with injury so I’d like to get a full season under my belt in Super Rugby and then into the Wallabies.

“I’m feeling ready to play now so hopefully no more injuries.”

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The 148kg behemoth even fired a subtle warning to the Lions after learning that Wallabies scrum coach Mike Cron had branded him the most explosive front-rower he’d ever worked with.

“Coaches, they always see good things about you. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ll take that from Mike Cron,” Tupou said.

“Look, as a scrum, I can’t do it myself. As an eight, at times I take the credit, but a lot of people don’t see that everything goes into the scrum – the No.8, the six, seven, what they do to get me through, the locks.

“If we can really work together as an eight, we’ll be dominant.”