This time it’s private.
The Roosters are reportedly getting ready to launch a raid on Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase — simply month after Joseph Suaalii jumped ship.
The Sydney Morning Herald first reported Roosters boss Trent Robinson will meet with Nawaqanitawase subsequent week in a possible revenge mission for Suaalii’s defection to Rugby Australia.
Nawaqanitawase was one of many Wallabies’ finest and brightest stars during the last two seasons and was a starter of their failed 2023 World Cup marketing campaign.
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However, he heads into 2024 on the ultimate yr of his contract with Rugby Australia and has been non-commital when beforehand requested about his future.
According to stories, the Roosters have had an eye fixed on the 23-year-old for a while
“In a perfect world I’d like to stay [in rugby], but there’s always a but, he told The SMH earlier this year.
“There’s obviously other things out there that might interest me.”
The Roosters are effectively stocked with outdoors backs in 2024 with former Knights star Dom Young becoming a member of the membership, foxsports.com.au stories.
The Roosters have already got Daniel Tupou and Junior Pauga on their books for 2024, however the former is tipped to maneuver on, whereas Suaalii will change to rugby after subsequent season.
Nawaqanitawase, 23, has scored 27 tries in 45 video games for the Waratahs and 5 tries in 11 Tests for Australia since making his debut in 2022.
Nawaqanitawase’s potential defection can be an enormous blow for rugby union who’re attempting to bounce again from a horror season beneath now departed Wallabies coach Eddie Jones.
Nawaqanitawase would doubtless play wing whereas he learns the game, however could possibly be an possibility at fullback down the road when James Tedesco hangs up the boots.
The Roar stories Rugby Australia has already performed into the Roosters arms on a number of ranges.
The document $1.5 per-season deal signed by Suaalii has inflated the Australian rugby participant market and it might imply the Roosters are in a position to present a richer supply.
The 15-man code’s determination to solely prolong Nawaqanitawase’s deal by 12 months earlier this yr has additional opened the door for the Roosters to strike.
Suaalii signed a mammoth three-year deal value nearly $5 million in March, with the contract starting after his Roosters deal expires in 2024.
There was hypothesis in September Suaalii could possibly be seeking to get out of his wealthy deal because of the Wallabies being a basketcase this yr.
Under Eddie Jones’ trainwreck tenure the Wallabies didn’t make it out of the group stage on the 2023 World Cup — the primary time Australia has ever suffered that embarrassment.
Source: www.news.com.au
