Later that year Nilsson had his first full major league season, producing a .275 batting average and .451 slugging average and won Brewers Player of the Year. He then returned to Australia after signing a five-year deal with the Waverly Reds where he played 54 games in the 1994–95 ABL season, leading in batting average (.388), on base average (.471) and slugging average (.775). Nilsson was again named as the All-Star catcher and led Waverly to their second title and Nilsson's third.