Seated in an interview space at Rugby NSW’s headquarters, Waratahs coach Dan McKellar is answering a question about veteran playmaker Jack Debreczeni. Only a small slice of the Waratahs’ practice field is visible, but given that training finished half an hour ago, McKellar can picture the scene.
“You look out there now, he’ll be out there somewhere with Jack Bowen and the young tens. And I think that’s something they’ve really craved,” McKellar says.
“I 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’t had an older statesman to help guide them.
“A 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…”
McKellar pauses and nods – “there he is” – as Debreczeni jogs into view, retrieves a ball and disappears again.
“… it’s valuable,” the coach concludes.
It couldn’t 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.
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.
“There wasn’t anything from the Tahs at that point, I was just content to try and move on to the next phase of my life,” Debreczeni said. “With 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.”
Debreczeni signed a one-year contract, amid external expectations he would be a senior statesman coming off the bench for NSW.
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.
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.
“It 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,” he said.
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.
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’ weak points, there’s no mistaking the fact he will again be a key figure for the Tahs.
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.
So is Debreczeni keen to go around again?
“At this stage of life, I do take it week to week, and I’ll make that assessment at the end of the season,” he smiles.
“The game itself, I feel like I’m in a really good place with how I’m seeing the game, how I’m feeling momentum shifts in the game.
“At the moment, my body’s good, and I’m 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’ll be definitely open to playing on in the future.”
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.
“I 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’t have to make those same mistakes and I can try to accelerate their learning,” he said.
Age is just a number right? Particularly when five-eighths are now playing on deep into their 30s?
“It’s probably one of my bad habits that … I age myself out: ‘I’m 32, I’m too old’,” Debreczeni says.
“My wife says the same thing, like stop saying you’re too old because it becomes part of your belief system. So I am trying to be better at making sure that I’m conveying that. I am still going OK, I’m still good enough.
“But I will just probably take it week by week, and at the end of the year, I’ll have a discussion with Dan and see where everything at, both from a family perspective and body’s perspective. Then we’ll go from there.”
Watch every match of Super Rugby Pacific live and exclusive on Stan Sport.
