Tahs send SOS to club rugby playmaker amid ugly contract stoush

The Waratahs have picked former Junior Wallabies five-eighth Joe Dillon from club rugby for the third tier Super Rugby AUS, after injury and a “disappointing” contract stoush with the Force left them with no contracted No.10s for the start of the competition.

Dillon, who had been with the Brumbies for two seasons before returning to Manly in the Shute Shield this year, will join the Tahs for Super Rugby AUS (SRA) on a short-term deal and is set to start against the Brumbies in round one on September 13.

The SOS for Dillon came as a result of the Tahs’ three five-eighths being unavailable, with Bernard Foley not starting until November, Joey Fowler out with a concussion sustained playing club rugby, and recruit Max Burey on the sidelines due to a stand-off between NSW and his old club, the Force.

Burey, a Sydney-raised former Australian sevens and Norths playmaker, signed a two-year deal with NSW after impressing Dan McKellar in last year’s SRA, in which he was named player of the tournament.

But Burey won’t take part in this year’s competition, given the Force and Tahs have been unable to reach a financial agreement on his release. Standard playing contracts in Australian rugby start and end on November 1, which can leave an awkward two-month gap for players swapping clubs in the off-season; even more so with the introduction of the SRA last year.

The four-week competition, which runs through September, was created to provide more high-level rugby for contracted stars and aspiring club players.

For Burey to play in the SRA, however, he has to be contracted to the Waratahs or the Force would be liable for substantial rehabilitation costs arising from a serious injury, even after he has moved on.

Burey is in Sydney and was not named in the Force’s SRA squad.

But the WA club rejected the Waratahs’ offer of about $10,000 to buy Burey’s contract, which is less than half of the two months’ salary still owed to the 27-year-old, according to informed sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Burey has also been informed he can’t train with the Tahs while still on contract with the Force.

The Force, the Waratahs and Rugby Australia all declined to comment on the dispute.

But Waratahs assistant coach Locky McCaffrey, who coached the NSW SRA side to the inaugural title last year, said it was disappointing to not have Burey available.

“I’m not across all the contracting stuff between the Tahs and the Force,” he said. “I probably won’t comment on the contractual stuff, but I think all four Super franchises should be really aligned in making sure that all rugby players are playing footy. Not just Max, but any player.

“It’s disappointing if we’ve got someone fit and available – a young, potentially high-level Super Rugby player – who isn’t playing rugby in Super AUS. If that’s for the Brumbies, the Reds, the Force or us, in my opinion, it’s disappointing.”

With 37 Super Rugby caps over four seasons at the Force, Burey shapes as the primary back-up to Foley as the Tahs’ five-eighth in 2027. Fowler, 21, played in SRA last year but is yet to debut in Super Rugby.

Rugby Australia’s ownership of the Waratahs and the Brumbies facilitated immediate contract transfers for Luke Reimer to move from the Brumbies to the Tahs, and Triston Reilly and Leafi Talataina going the other way. But the Force are privately owned by Andrew Forrest’s investment company Tattarang.

NSW prop Tom Lambert is moving to the Reds next season but will play for the Tahs in SRA before departing.

Burey is not needed by the Force given recruit Harry McLaughlin-Phillips will be playing for them at No.10, after he was poached from the Reds. But under the terms of his deal, McLaughlin-Phillips’s contract with Queensland ended early and the fringe Wallaby is already on the Force’s payroll.

McCaffrey admitted the Waratahs may look to use fullbacks James Hendren and Sid Harvey at No.10 in the competition, but Dillon’s call-up shows that’s more plan B than a serious option.

A ball player with good vision and tactical nous, Dillon played for the Junior Wallabies in 2024 and 2025, and ran the Brumbies Runners for several seasons.

McCaffrey said he has had several meetings with inbound NSW head coach Michael Cheika about styles or philosophies he’d like to use.

“His comms have just been, “Head coach it your way, mate.” We’ll drip-feed a little bit of detail in here or there, look at what they’re doing physically throughout the week, but he’s been pretty open with me just to keep driving it until they enter the building, really,” McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey, a defence coach under McKellar, is hopeful of staying on as a part of Cheika’s staff. Stephen Hoiles is set to also return to the Waratahs as a senior assistant coach to Cheika, with negotiations close to complete. The former Wallabies back-rower will be lined up as Cheika’s successor as head coach, either in 2028 or 2029.