Wallabies star Mark Nawaqanitawase to meet with the Roosters over potential code switch
Tension between the Sydney Roosters and Rugby Australia is set to explode with the NRL powerhouse club to meet with Wallabies rising star Mark Nawaqanitawase next week in a potential move that will send shockwaves through the 15-man game.
With Joseph Suaalii preparing to leave the club at the end of 2024, the Roosters could be on the verge of exacting revenge in a potential raid on one of the Wallabies’ best players at a disappointing World Cup campaign in France.
Nawaqanitawase, who has drawn comparisons with a young Israel Folau, has caught the eye of the Roosters as they look to bolster their back line in preparation for Suaalii’s departure and Daniel Tupou’s likely retirement at the end of 2024.
Their attention comes as rugby is under the spotlight following a disastrous World Cup under now-departed coach Eddie Jones, as well as the massive $A4.8 million, three-year deal for Suaalii, and a $1.6 million, two-year contract offered to fellow Roosters player Angus Crichton in a previously botched negotiation.
Nawaqanitawase, who is off contract with the NSW Waratahs at the end of 2024, is scheduled to meet with Roosters coach Trent Robinson and club supremo Nick Politis next week.
The Roosters are keen to explore the possibility of luring the 23-year-old back to rugby league after he played the 13-man game as a junior for both the Concord Burwood Wolves and Leichhardt Wanderers until the age of 14.
His father Sevuloni was a rugby league player, who moved from Fiji to Sydney in 1991 to play for Balmain. As a Year 10 student, Nawaqanitawase also played rugby with future Wests Tigers five-eighth Adam Doueihi in the first XV for St Patrick’s College, Strathfield.
The Roosters declined to comment when contacted by this masthead on Friday afternoon. Nawaqanitawase’s management also declined to comment. Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan could not be reached.
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