 After Reilly had starred for Great Britain in their triumphant 1970 Australasian Tour in which they succeeded in winning The Ashes against Australia (the last time as of the end of 2016 that Great Britain or England has won The Ashes), he returned to England to play for Castleford and was again selected for Great Britain during the 1970 World Cup.Managing the Australian team in the World Cup was Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club secretary Ken Arthurson who made it a priority to sign Reilly and bring him to Sydney to play for the Brookvale based club.His signing proved a boon for Manly as his skills and toughness added to an already strong Manly forward pack (Manly had played in the 1970 Grand Final).