LIKE the hard, smart footballer all openside breakaways must be, Joe Barakat is keeping a low profile with the hunt on for a new Waratahs head coach to succeed Ewen McKenzie.

The number of candidates is down to four - Chris Hickey, Scott Johnson, Les Kiss and the mystery man Barakat, a former St George first-grader.

Amid growing impatience and frustration, the identity of the new coaching maestro is expected to be revealed after the NSW Rugby Union board meeting on May 26.

Since Todd Louden turned his back on the political minefield of Waratahs rugby and signed with the Ricoh club in Japan, the number of applicants has dwindled, several disillusioned by the in-fighting which exacerbates already significant pressure on the head coach.

As NSW Junior Waratahs head coach and hands-on forward technician with the Waratahs, Barakat, 45, is well aware of the pitfalls which lie on either side of plaudits accompanying involvement with the NSW team.

Rather than experience alarm at the prospect of appointment, Barakat feels stimulated by the challenge.

"Coaching the Waratahs doesn't frighten me, it frightens other people," he said. "People have actually pulled out of the race because it's a job they feel comes with a lot of baggage. That baggage excites me."

Without the high profiles of Johnson or Hickey, both mentioned in the same breath in coaching tandem for the Waratahs, or having a Test background such as the Waratahs' defensive guru, Kiss, Barakat has had an enormous apprenticeship in the game.

Retiring after a tigerish playing career on the side of the scrum with St George, Barakat has coached St Pat's, Strathfield, to five ISA premierships in eight years; NSW Schools to two Australian championships in three seasons; coached Southern Districts for three years and West Harbour for five, and won the Sydney Coach of the Year award with Brian Melrose at Wests.

Barakat has had unprecedented success in his three seasons in control of the Junior Waratahs, winning 12 games with a draw and three losses.

"I've either played or coached rugby for 39 successive seasons. I've never had a season off and I don't intend to for the next 10 years," he said.

NSW are awaiting word from Johnson, the former NSW representative five-eighth and successful Wales coach, a man widely respected internationally for his rugby creativity and a much-admired strategist, not least by the Waratahs players.

Johnson has committed to coaching the United States team and it is understood that this complication has delayed the announcement of the man to succeed McKenzie.

Johnson believes he can combine the two positions but NSW are anxious to hear the outcome of his negotiations before a final decision.

With the Super 14 season drawing to a climax, Barakat is preparing to take a sabbatical from NSW Rugby to become forwards coach of the Fijian team for the Pacific Nations Cup.

The Fijian representative players assemble in Suva late this month with Barakat in charge of a "tight-five camp", working on the invariably suspect technique of the Fijians' scrum and lineout.

"I'm just champing at the bit to work with those big Fijian forwards," he said, as passionate as ever.

"It is a great opportunity for me to make a difference in their set-piece play."

Fiji play Western Samoa on June 7 and then the New Zealand Maoris a week later.

Dan Vickerman is basically the disciplinarian and leader of the Waratah forwards.

Should he take up an overseas playing position, Barakat is the forward expert NSW need to get the engine growling again.