Waratahs stalwarts mull over departure

Editor

Dean Mumm and Tatafu Polota-Nau are still weighing up their options for 2017 following the end of the Waratahs Super Rugby campaign.

In a must-win encounter, the men from Sydney lost by six points to a resurgent Blues side in Auckalnd on the weekend, signalling the end of their 2016 season.

The franchise is faced with a changing of the guard, with the likes of Kurtley Beale, Wycliff Palu, Benn Robinson and former captain Dave Dennis all confirming they will not be playing for the club in 2017.

The potential departure of forwards Mumm and Polota-Nau adds to the issue.

"I'll have a couple of weeks to make a decision," Mumm  told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

"I love this joint and the people within it and it makes any decision really difficult."

Meanwhile, Polota-Nau, who has notched up 141 appearances for the Waratahs, was a touch more philosophical.

"Whether I do continue or whether I don't, I'm just a byproduct of what the team achieves," said the hooker.

"To be a part of that is awesome. I want to make the most of being in the company of the boys because we owe a lot to the guys that are going and they've definitely set a platform in terms of what the standard is."

Polota-Nau added that should he leave, the stage has been set for the young guns to take over.

"You want to get those young guys really involved and to understand what it takes to be at the top level and I could only do that from the sideline but once I came back there was a kinaesthetic understanding," he said.

"Paddy Ryan's transition from tighthead to loosehead, who does that? Credit goes to him and Tom Robertson for preparing and understanding that it's little minute detail that gets results like that."

This is a sentiment captain Michael Hooper certainly shares.

"It's certainly a bright future for us," he added.

"We started the season with a scrum under pressure and we got rewarded with two penalty tries which shows our scrum's really improving."