Max Jorgensen contract: Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh reveals plans to keep young Wallaby

Picking right Wallabies coach is key to keeping young talent, says Rugby Australia boss.

Mark Nawaqanitawase and Max Jorgensen Picture: Getty Images

Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh says defection of Australian star Mark Nawaqanitawase to powerhouse NRL club Sydney Roosters has highlighted the current “element of distrust” and “uncertainty” around the Wallabies culture – which he is determined to change.

As Sydney Roosters seem all but certain to now target Waratahs teen sensation Max Jorgensen, Waugh said Rugby Australia’s priority is to overhaul the culture to encourage young athletes to choose the Wallabies jersey over other codes.

Waugh says a high performance manager will be named before Christmas, with a Wallabies coach expected to follow soon after and he hopes that stability will reign after a disastrous year where Eddie Jones oversaw Australia’s worst ever performance at a World Cup.

“The environment is uncertain and therefore that drives uncertainty into the market for the young athletes coming through,” Waugh said, who played 136 games for the Waratahs and 79 tests for the Wallabies.

“There’s no denying that we need to ensure that we’ve got the right environment and culture within the Wallabies … the right head coach will attract the best possible assistant coaches and, and the best management team and that will drive the appropriate culture through for the Wallabies and then that attracts players. I’m not denying the fact that we need to get our Wallabies environment into the best possible culture that we can and we’re not there yet. So I guess from a player’s point of view, I can understand the uncertainty and now the element of distrust and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Jorgensen was approached by the Roosters at the start of 2023 but chose to stay in union for the “love of it”. Jones selected him for the Wallabies World Cup squad but he injured his knee and didn’t play a game.

Wallabies young gun Max Jorgensen is in the sights of NRL clubs Picture: Getty Images

Jorgensen, who scored two tries in a memorable Super Rugby Pacific debut earlier this year, was 18 when he played his first game. Waugh believes Rugby Australia should push more young players on the Super Rugby “big” stage earlier.

“He’s certainly a player of talent and I think historically we probably haven’t sold the journey of coming out of school into Super Rugby as well as we could have,” Waugh said.

“Normally it is a two or three year journey and, and we haven’t been pushing players through into the Super Rugby environment as quickly as we probably could. I think going forward and what we saw with Max in ‘23 was that some of these athletes coming out of school are ready to play Super Rugby immediately. Like all athletes, I was the same when I was playing, everyone’s pretty impatient and they want to be playing on the big stage as early as quickly as possible.

“I think for players like Max and Mark included it is actually; ‘how do we expose young players to the right culture, the right environment, but also how do we move through the system and get them experience as quickly as possible so they fall in love with the environment that they’re in?’”

Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase has signed with NRL club Sydney Roosters for 2025 Picture: Getty Images

While Waugh with him numerous times and spent time “face to face” with him in the last couple of weeks – the winger decided to go to the Tri-colours for less money. Roosters boss Nick Politis and other club powerbrokers helped woo the Wallabies star over many weeks including hosting a dinner at Beppi’s where they spoke about “life in general”. At that dinner the Roosters group also talked about property investment and setting up life after football.

Nawaqanitawase, who is 23 and has 11 tests to his name, gave up a bigger offer from RA to settle for $450,000 a year over two years to join the Roosters.

Again, Waugh noted the situation was symptomatic of what they needed to fix.

“I think it’s probably a reflection of us needing to do a better job of creating the best culture to attract the best players,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of business with Nick Politis and I know Trent [Robinson] pretty well and they’ve done a good job over a long period of time, in creating a really stable environment and, and that’s attractive.”

“So one of the big parts of Rugby Australia is how do we create a successful and sustainable culture that has longevity within it. And that’s why values and behaviours are going to be very important in terms of selection of the next coach.”