How adversity and pool noodles helped Max Jorgensen become a Wallabies leading man

Sydney Morning Herald

3 days ago

You can imagine all the sports science and hi-tech equipment used to prepare a finely-tuned athlete. Suitcases full of GPS monitors, lactate tests, altitude tents, virtual reality simulators, a vast array of gym equipment … you name it, a sports team has used it.
And, of course, there's the pool noodle. Yes, the same humble pool noodle you probably have wedged into your shed; a long, thin styrofoam toy used by kids when swimming and, every now and then, to help train Test rugby wingers to fly through the air and successfully catch a towering kick.
Max Jorgensen's spectacular try last week against the Lions at Suncorp Stadium? Shoutout to the $2 pool noodle.
'Obviously, it's something you have to practice a lot, but I think there's a lot more technique than people think,' Jorgensen says about the art of winning an aerial contest.
'It's not just jumping up for it and catching a ball. It's a lot of reps in training, and pretty much doing it every day.
'And there are techniques we will use to train. Sometimes they get out the pool noodles, and as you go up to catch you get hit in the face, hit on the arms and on the body, to try and distract you and train you to stay focused on the ball. And you get a lot of pad work as well, trying to stay big into the contact, and win that space.
'That aerial contest, obviously it's massive in rugby now. With that new rule, where you're not allowed to obstruct chasers to protect the catcher, ultimately, it's a 50-50. You don't know who's going to come down with the ball.'
In the 29th minute at Suncorp Stadium, and with the Lions leading 10-0 and getting on top, Jorgensen stayed big in the contact and scored a memorable try to rally the Australian cause.
With the Wallabies, like most other Test teams, employing a contestable kick strategy, Jorgensen chased a Jake Gordon box kick and the youngster leapt into the night sky to compete with Lions fullback Hugo Keenan.
The pair both latched onto the ball, but Jorgensen ripped the ball away from Keenan upon landing, and raced 25 metres upfield to score in the corner made famous by Israel Folau in the 2013 Lions series.
'A big one for me is just looking at the ball all the time, and you have just got to be confident into the space and get your timing right,' Jorgensen said. 'And the other guys are coming on to it, so also getting ready for that contact, because you're hitting each other pretty hard in the air. It's just being courageous, I guess, into that contact.
'It was a bit of a weird one [with Keenan]. We both caught it at the same time but then he hit the ground and I ripped it off him, and I think the difference was, if you look at it, me staying on my feet helped massively.'
Continuing a trend he began at Twickenham last year, Jorgensen then set sail for the line and scored a nerveless try on a massive global stage, against some of the world's best players.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt marvelled after the game that it's easy to forget Jorgensen is still only 20 years old, such is his capacity to not only handle the pressure of Test rugby, but thrive in it.
'Sometimes even I forget, it [leaving school] was only three years ago,' Jorgensen said. 'It feels like it's been way longer, to be honest. It feels like it's more been five years. But yeah, sometimes I look back and you go, 'It's a bit crazy where I'm at now'.
'When we ran out and the stadium was all dark and the flashlights were on, and how loud it was, that's really when it hit me. I was like, yeah, this is something special.'
There are many remarkable parts to Jorgensen's swift rise, which began in 2022 when he was the subject of a recruitment war between league and union while still at school, and ultimately saw him sign – and later extend – with RA and the Waratahs.
Jorgensen was playing for NSW in 2023, and was a bolter in the Rugby World Cup squad at the end of the year. He made his Test debut last year against the Springboks in Perth, and played in all four Tests on the Wallabies' Spring Tour.
He was a starter for Schmidt against Fiji earlier this month, and then for the Lions Test series.
At each step, Jorgensen has not just looked right at home, he's put his feet on the couch. He has almost effortlessly elevated his game to suit the occasion.
But what's perhaps most remarkable – and easily forgotten – is that Jorgensen has done it all while battling consistent bad luck with injury. In three Super Rugby seasons, Jorgensen is yet to finish one.
In 2023, he missed the end of the Waratahs season with a knee injury, returned and then broke his leg at the World Cup. In 2024, he again didn't finish the Super season after badly tearing his hamstring, and in 2025, Jorgensen was on fire until he suffered a syndesmosis injury that required surgery via a hip-drop tackle in round seven.
'Looking back at it, I definitely struggled a lot to begin with, in those early injuries, especially in my first year and being so young,' Jorgensen said.
'But looking back at it now, as bad as the injuries were and as much as they suck, I think they actually helped me as a player and as a person.
'Earlier in my career, with those first couple of injuries, I had the attitude, 'This is bullshit. Why is it always me? There's 30 other guys on the field at that time. Why couldn't it happen to anyone else? It's always happening to me'. And I was sort of looking at it like that.
'But as time went on and with the help of guys at the Tahs, I started looking at it as like, 'OK, it is what it is. It's part of the game. It's what I do for a living.' You have to just focus on the next steps, recover and get back. You can't change it, so it doesn't help anyone to mope around. You or your teammates.
'Going through all that has really helped me mature, and I think mature quicker. It has helped me learn to overcome adversity whenever I face it, however small or however big.'
Another reminder: Jorgensen's try against England last year was in his fourth game back from injury, and his strong showing against Fiji earlier this month his first game in 100 days.
Which begs the question – how? How does Jorgensen appear to return to footy, and Test footy no less, without looking like he's missed a day?
'Obviously you get set back physically, but you don't lose any game knowledge or anything like that. That's how I look at it. You can tell some people are injured, but that's probably just because their body's still not right,' Jorgensen said.
'So the main thing is first getting your body right and getting your injury right, so you're feeling back to normal. And then when I get back out there, I'll look back and I go, 'I've done this before. I'll just go out there and do it again. It's not like anything's changed.' That's sort of the way I look at it.'
After an early stint in the 'next big thing' spotlight in his first year, Jorgensen is now happily off to the side in a darker part of the stage, with his NSW teammate Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii out front and centre. He'd be happy if the Lions overlook him on Saturday night at the MCG.
It wouldn't be the first time.
By virtue of him being born in England in 2004 while father Peter was playing for Rotherham, Jorgensen has a British passport. He keeps it quiet.
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Had they done their homework, however, a rich English club might have also been in the fight for the teenage Jorgensen back in 2022, and, theoretically at least, there might have been one more Aussie-raised Lion in the red jersey.
'Ha, no, that was never on the table for me,' Jorgensen laughs. 'I don't think many people know I was born there and have a passport. Anytime I tell someone they're always surprised.