The recruitment of cross-code star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was always going to lift the Waratahs, through his prodigious on-field talent and his even-more prodigious capacity to draw media attention.
But the Waratahs may not have fully anticipated how much Suaalii’s arrival would help unlock the potential of the other young superstar on the roster who had, until recently, sat uneasily in the “Next Big Thing” hotseat: Max Jorgensen.
This year, Jorgensen has happily found himself deep in the shadow of Suaalii – and he is thriving.
In the Tahs’ first three games, Jorgensen has been outstanding on the wing for the Waratahs and displayed form that will see high on the list for Wallabies selection to play against the British and Irish Lions in July.
After scoring twice (and almost a third), setting up another try and winning man-of-the-match in NSW’s win over the Western Force, Jorgensen was nominated by coach Dan McKellar as “probably … our best player in the first three weeks”.
“He’s just starting to find his feet,” McKellar said. “Even physically, he’s filled out now, the boy’s become a man and he’s just starting to feel like he belongs at this level. He was a Super Rugby player, and then five minutes later he was a Test player at a World Cup and had to deal with a couple of injuries along the way.”
Max Jorgensen of the Waratahs scores a try against the Force.Credit: Getty Images
Aged 18 and just a year after he’d been the subject of a cross-code bidding war while still at school, Jorgensen debuted for the Waratahs amid much fanfare in 2023. He was superb early on but soon began a rocky run with injury, and though he was later picked as a bolter for the Wallabies’ World Cup squad, he suffered another injury in France and didn’t play.
In 2024, Jorgensen returned for the Tahs but was dropped mid-season, and then picked up another injury while playing club rugby for Randwick. The rookie was carefully rehabbed back, however, and he finally made his Test debut in August. In November, Jorgensen scored that match-winner coming off the bench at Twickenham, and he was strong for the Wallabies on the rest of the Spring Tour.
In normal circumstances, it would have been enough for Jorgensen to be a star attraction for the Waratahs’ new season, but all the cameras and column inches were trained on the new kid Suaalii – and that suited Jorgensen just fine.
“It helps not being in that spotlight,” Jorgensen said.
Wallaby Max Jorgensen scores the match-winner against England.Credit: Getty Images
“When you go through some rough patches, it definitely helps when the spotlight’s not on you so much. It was always at the back of my head, so I didn’t think it [media pressure] affected me too much. Obviously Joey’s been amazing for our group – he’s got a toe injury at the moment. Hopefully, he’s back in the next couple of weeks.”
Now 20, Jorgensen has noticeably filled out physically, but he has also got faster. And the experiences of touring with the Wallabies, and playing in high-stakes Test matches like at Twickenham, has added a bit of maturity and self-confidence, too.
“Footy doesn’t get too much harder than that. So being able to learn off those players and bring that knowledge back down to the Tahs is huge,” Jorgensen said.
“I feel like I’ve come a long way in two years. I’ve learned so much along the way from all the older boys and coaches. I look back at some of those games I played [in 2023], I just look so inexperienced. I feel so much more confident now and know the game better and just learning off those older players and coaches.”
Jorgensen began his professional career as a fullback but has been moved to wing recently, and the capacity to both roam in attack – and also keep his width when needed – appears to suit the youngster’s skill and speed. Even with Suaalii injured for the last two games, Jorgensen has stayed on the wing, with Andrew Kellaway preferred at No.15.
“We look at it as three fullbacks, two wingers and the fullback. The way we play, there’s a lot of moving, swinging around,” Jorgensen said.
“Wingers are always in the backfield as well, so it’s not too different of a position. Might score more tries on the wing but we look at it as three fullbacks, that’s how we play our game. It doesn’t really matter who’s where, just as long as we’re working together.”
The Wallabies back three spots are one of more tightly contested positional brackets, with Tom Wright, Jorgensen, Dylan Pietsch, Kellaway, Filipo Daugunu, Corey Toole, Jock Campbell, Darby Lancaster and even Suaalli jockeying for selection.
Jorgensen outpointed Pietsch in Sydney and will take on Daugunu when NSW meet the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.
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