{"id":103716,"date":"2025-08-29T06:33:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/103716\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T06:33:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:33:53","slug":"the-nrl-and-sydney-roosters-think-they-got-their-man-with-mark-nawaqanitawase-max-jorgensen-puts-him-in-the-shade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/103716\/","title":{"rendered":"The NRL and Sydney Roosters think they got their man with Mark Nawaqanitawase. Max Jorgensen puts him in the shade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The reasons for taking a similar approach with Jorgensen \u2013 and yes, I am putting him in that Jordan category \u2013 are fourfold.<\/p>\n

First, the fullback role opens up both sides of the field for him, and we already know he can beat defenders off either foot.<\/p>\n

Second, he\u2019s a tough defender.<\/p>\n

Third, he\u2019s arguably the best Wallabies player under the high ball.<\/p>\n

Fourth, he isn\u2019t getting enough touches on the right wing.<\/p>\n

That last point sounds absurd, but only because we\u2019ve been tricked into thinking otherwise by Jorgensen. The youngster is making such an impact that it feels like there\u2019s nothing to gain from changing anything.<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

Mark Nawaqanitawase has been doing special things for the Roosters.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, consider this: of the 46 players in Cape Town last weekend, Jorgensen ranked 31st in touches per minute. He\u2019s having a disproportionately large effect on Tests because he\u2019s winning so many big moments \u2013 not because the No.14 jersey is where the ball is going.<\/p>\n

At fullback, he\u2019d automatically be in the top five for involvements, and at some point Australian selectors will want to give their best remaining attacking weapon more opportunities to influence the game.<\/p>\n

The injured Tom Wright benefited from the same theory. It took time for him to grow into one of the world\u2019s best fullbacks, but credit must go to the Brumbies and then the Wallabies.<\/p>\n

They recognised his attacking threat and were prepared to live with a few growing pains, because there was nowhere else in the back line that afforded him the same number of chances to use his skill set.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

Andrew Kellaway\u2019s best football for the Wallabies has come in the No.14 jersey.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

In that sense, Jorgensen \u2013 not Andrew Kellaway \u2013 is actually the logical replacement for Wright because the Wallabies would be replacing their best attacking player with their next-best attacking player.<\/p>\n

Besides, Kellaway\u2019s best footy for the Wallabies has come in the No.14 jersey, where he has predominantly been used. He can still impart all of his experience and knowledge from that position.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Wallabies should split the Argentina Tests between Jorgensen and Kellaway, but the former\u2019s move to fullback will happen sooner or later \u2013 and Australia must be thinking likewise for next year.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

The fact this debate is happening at all reflects a quiet success story in the Wallabies\u2019 year so far: they\u2019re building depth. They\u2019ve lost Wright and Dylan Pietsch from the back three but still have options, with Corey Toole\u2019s brilliant debut and Harry Potter\u2019s return from injury providing a four-into-three debate for the selectors.<\/p>\n

Up front, lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto will be coming in off the long run as a potential replacement for Will Skelton, while Tom Hooper will be considered unlucky if he misses out on the starting XV to accommodate the return of Harry Wilson.<\/p>\n

The signs are encouraging \u2013 but Jorgensen is the player who can make the most of Wright\u2019s cruel luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The reasons for taking a similar approach with Jorgensen \u2013 and yes, I am putting him in that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-103716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}