Dan McKellar says he wants to “pick and stick” going forward at fly-half, but that hasn’t stopped the Waratahs coach making another change in the key playmaking role for Saturday’s do-or-die clash against the Blues – and the topsy-turvy selection changes appear to have forced the hand of one Wallaby.

After Jack Bowen led the Waratahs to a five-point win over the Western Force in the wet to keep their season alive last week, McKellar handed the keys to the Junior Wallaby from the outset for their must-win clash at Eden Park.

“I’m pleased with how Bowie’s performed there, and he gets a chance this week in a big game. We’ve got Tane [Edmed] and his experience to come on in the back end,” McKellar said.

By making the selection call, McKellar turned away from one-Test Wallaby Edmed, who made his Test debut under Joe Schmidt in the final match of 2024 against Ireland.

Now, it’s Edmed who is poised to turn away from the Waratahs in the hope of resurrecting his own stop-start career.

Tane Edmed is likely to leave the Waratahs at season’s end to join arch-rivals, the Brumbies. (Photo by Mark Kolbe Photography/Getty Images)

The Roar understands that Edmed is leaning towards jumping ship and joining McKellar’s former side, the Brumbies.

With Noah Lolesio off to Japan and Jack Debreczeni weighing up retirement, Stephen Larkham has had Edmed in his sights for the past couple of months to help fill the void.

While Edmed was desperate to continue at the Waratahs, sources have told The Roar that the 24-year-old believes a fresh start under Larkham could be the move required to get himself back firmly in the Wallabies picture after an underwhelming 2025.

The Brumbies have already tabled Edmed an offer, while it’s strangely quiet in Sydney despite the Waratahs’ apparent interest in the playmaker. McKellar also has Bowen and Lawson Creighton, who will play fullback against the Blues, as fly-half options.

The move won’t be a major surprise given McKellar turned away from the playmaker early in the season despite the Waratahs posting consecutive wins to start the year. Since then he’s been in and out of the side.

But should he sign a deal with their arch-rivals, it will once again reignite questions over the Waratahs’ ability to develop and foster talent after letting Ben Donaldson and Will Harrison go in recent years.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Thursday before heading across the ditch, McKellar was adamant that he wanted to have a clear first-choice playmaker to pick.

“If you look at the teams at the top of the table that have had consistency, and you look at currently the best team in Australia, and that’s the Brumbies, the consistency they’ve had there in key positions across a number of years,” said McKellar, who gave Lolesio his debut in Super Rugby in 2020.

“That cohesion theory that Benny Darwin talks about, it’s 100 per cent right. Obviously, here we’re in our first season as a group and trying to work out what’s our best fit and who’s the best fit for not only 10 but a number of different positions.”

“It’s certainly going to be a focus for us around more of a pick and stick mindset once we do get those decisions right.”

Stephen Larkham (L) is poised to sign Tane Edmed from under Dan McKellar’s nose. Photo: Hugo Carr/NSW Waratahs

Part of McKellar’s challenge has been prioritising what he felt were the two or three biggest areas of improvement to attack this year for a group that finished last in 2024.

It meant that the side’s attack, which is often seen as the last piece of the puzzle to come together, perhaps wasn’t given as much time and space as other areas.

But it also meant that the Waratahs’ attack often looked clunky in 2025, including during their super point win over the Force when the ball rarely went past Joey Walton at inside centre. Indeed, the Waratahs barely looked like scoring, with two of their three tries coming off the back of intercepts.

Nonetheless, McKellar said he was confident his side would develop in the area quickly under former England and Ireland attack coach Mike Catt.

“There’s a new style of play this year and our attacks are a work in progress,” McKellar said.

“All areas of our game are, but the attack is probably the one that takes the longest. If you talk to ‘Catty’, it goes back to his first year at Ireland, and they had similar experiences there, so it takes time, but we’re comfortable with the 10s.”

For now, McKellar isn’t looking past Saturday, where the eighth-placed Waratahs (26) must end their 16-year drought at Eden Park to likely progress to the knockout stages with the Blues and Moana Pasifika both on 28 points.

Jack Bowen will earn his first time this year against the Blues. (Photo by Pete Dovgan/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Having watched the Brumbies exploit the Blues under contestable kicks earlier in the year, the decision to promote Bowen to the No.10 jersey for the first time this year appears to be a specific one.

“I watched the game. I’m pretty clear at how they got the result,” he said.

“Tactically they got it right and, in particular, at the back end of that first half and second half, and they got some dominance at the set-piece.”

He added: “Places like Eden Park, you need to be in it with 20 minutes to go, and don’t let them get off to a fast start and blow you away.

“It’s not a tough place to play, it’s a beautiful stadium. Obviously, the All Blacks play well there.

“We’ve just got to understand it’s another patch of grass and a nice stadium. The Brumbies showed earlier in the year that it’s possible (to win).”