A new coach and fresh attacking ideas at the Queensland Reds are helping Jordan Petaia move on from the sting of failure with the Wallabies at last year’s World Cup.
While administrators are working hard to nail down the ideal Wallabies coach to take the game forward, Petaia doesn’t see the “Position Vacant” sign as a negative in the short term during pre-season.
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Some players have already spoken of it lighting a fire in the belly to succeed. Petaia may well be feeling that too but he’s also enjoying a rare moment where it really is all about his Super Rugby Pacific team because the Wallabies don’t have a coach.
This time in January last year, the Wallabies had already farewelled one and welcomed another.
“To be honest, I haven’t thought about the coaching situation too much. It’s a bit refreshing not having to think about that environment right now when you can focus on what’s best for your Super Rugby team,” Petaia said.
Petaia admitted it was a process to move on from the World Cup disappointments in France where he started in three games as the side’s top-choice outside centre.
He headed to Switzerland and Italy post-Cup as part of a European vacation and divorced himself from much of the angry public and media backlash at the Wallabies not reaching the quarter-finals.
“I don’t follow too much online so I didn’t see much of it being in Switzerland and Italy but I heard about it. I watched the rest of the tournament (on TV) and it had that sting with not being there ourselves,” Petaia said.
“It was just good being away from the game for a while and doing stuff outside of footy.”
That’s not to say Petaia has shielding himself from the harsh truths of a flawed campaign. He’s analysed it in his own way.
“The main thing I took away was that failure and learning from it. Now, it’s what we do next which is important. Leaving that campaign, the message was make sure you do your best in your next environment and focus on your roles there. Obviously, you don’t want to repeat what’s happened at the Cup so start the next venture on a strong footing,” Petaia said.
He remembers the desolate feeling at full-time in the heavy pool loss to Wales in Lyon when all but a slim mathematical chance was snuffed out around reaching the knockout stages.
“A few of the boys were ‘tear-ing up’. It was a hard one to walk off the pitch from. We had family in the stands and Aussies who’d come across the world to watch us. Obviously, you don’t get the job done. It’s tough,” he said.
“I wanted to come back and help create a winning environment at the Reds and give that all my focus. One hundred per cent, I think you can see from history that success at Super Rugby can reflect at the international level.”
Petaia and his fellow Queensland Wallabies dived into three weeks of training under new coach Les Kiss before Christmas and are now back at it after Christmas ham and turkey.
“He’s cool, calm and collected and always trying to lift the boys. He’s got an attacking focus which is awesome,” Petaia said.
Petaia has played wing, fullback and outside centre over the past 12 months but has yet to be told by Kiss where he’ll be playing in 2024.
“I’d be comfortable wherever he sees fit for me to play. Right now we are training in a system where everyone is everywhere in the backs. There’s a lot of running and players are showing their abilities to work across the park,” Petaia said.
As a senior Red with 52 Queensland caps behind him, Petaia, 23, has to do more to show his younger teammates the way as well.
The new season arrives quickly enough with trials against the Western Force at Ballymore (February 3) and the NSW Waratahs in Roma (February 10).
