Super Rugby AUS MVP Max Burey is eager to pick up where he left off as he looks to cement a spot in the Western Force's starting side for 2026.
Burey finished the shortened competition as the player of the tournament after helping the team to the final.
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The 26-year-old was named player of the round in the opening week and backed this up with two sensational tries against the ACT Brumbies to book their spot in the decider.
While they would lose to the NSW Waratahs, Burey finished the season with four tries and 30 points to go with 15 defenders beaten, seven offloads and five line breaks.
“I think the more you play, the more you find a real flow. It's nice to be playing with guys that you're training with regularly," he told Rugby.com.au.
“We had a few guys training and we had a few guys playing, and you're playing with the same guys, so the combinations become really easy and you come into a nice flow, and I think that's what builds confidence.
“That was a really good competition and it was great to see a lot of guys get minutes and be able to play with a few guys that you often train with during the year but might not play with.”
His form was so impressive that it even lead to many fans calling for higher honours for Burey during the Spring Tour, which included Australia A's match against a Japan XV outfit.
“It's always nice, I guess, when people are saying positive things about you because they're pretty quick to let you know when you’re going s***," Burey said.
“I think it's nice to have those comments, but at the end of the day, fans are open to their opinion, allowed to have their say, so it's great."
Burey's focus remains on battling Ben Donaldson for the starting playmaker role after just one start in 2025.
“Donno's a great guy, good friend of mine, and I think you both recognise that it's just healthy competition and at the end of the day, we do a lot of training together in key skill parts of our game and you want to do the best you can," he believes.
“Whoever gets picked, you want to support them because on the flip side, if you’re playing, you’d want the same thing.
“I think we both relish in that competition, and having us both there certainly grows our game."
He started 2024 as the Force's main fullback, but was hoping to ride the momentum of his breakout campaign to hunt for that ten jersey.
Regardless, Burey was eager to help the club wherever in their quest for a maiden finals berth.
“I certainly prefer to play 10, and I think I can have a much bigger impact on the game there, but the way we play is multiple ball players, so if you’re playing at 15, you can definitely add value," he adds.
“I think being able to play both positions helps you when you go into the other one because it gives you the knowledge of I’m at 15, I know what my ten wants from me to help him and bring myself into the game. I think it's quite handy to be able to play multiple positions, but 10 is definitely my preference. When you make up to 23, you need to be able to cover across the back line so it's definitely handy and it helps me.
"...The expectations that we put on ourselves are much larger than the expectations anyone else puts on us. We put very high expectations of ourselves, and it's just more of a motivating factor than anything."
