Dion Alan George Waller (born 6 January 1974 in

Tūrangi Tūrangi is a small town on the west bank of the Tongariro River, 50 kilometres south-west of Taupō on the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand. It was built to accommodate the workers associated with the Tongariro hydro-electric pow ...

) is a former New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer. He played for the

Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named West ...

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, New Zealand Maori and

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

. He was one of the leading locks in

New Zealand rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

at provincial level with great lineout attributes, but never got a real opportunity to play internationally as he left New Zealand to play in Japan. He made his debut for

King Country The King Country (Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from the Kawhia Harbour and the town of Otorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of ...

in 1995 after being selected for the New Zealand U21s tour to Argentina. He debuted for the New Zealand Maori in 1996 and went on to collect 14 caps from then and also represented New Zealand A Team in 2000 till his departure of New Zealand in 2002. Waller played for the now defunct Central Vikings 25 times and winning the Division Two NPC Final against Bay of Plenty in 1998, following their collapse moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, between 1999 and 2002 he played 43 matches. In 2000 he played a major role in Wellington's win in the final against Canterbury. He played 4 years in Japan for Toyota Shokki and then went on to finish his career in Italy playing 2 years for Viadana. Dion retired in 2008 and went straight into giving back to rugby in New Zealand by coaching Aotea College U15s in Porirua. He then went on to be the Rugby Coaching Director at Tawa Rugby Club from 2012 to 2014. In 2013 he coached the Tawa Premier side to its first Jubilee Cup Championship, also winning the Swindale Shield, Andy Leslie trophy, and all inter club trophies available. 2014 he coached Tawa to the semi finals of the Jubilee Cup. Dion spent time in Japan coaching at the Honda Rugby Club in Japan. Now Dion is in his second year as Head Coach of the Wellington U19's and works in the Wellington Rugby High Performance Unit.

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* 1974 births Living people Rugby union locks New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand Māori sportspeople Wellington rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan New Zealand expatriate rugby union players People educated at Tauhara College People from Tūrangi Rugby union players from Waikato {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub