Carter Gordon is switching codes again, having signed with Rugby Australia (RA) and the Queensland Reds in a three-year deal in the build-up to the 2027 World Cup.<\/p>\n
Gordon, whose preferred position in rugby is fly half, played eight Tests for the Wallabies in 2023 before making a shock move to the NRL the following year.<\/p>\n
He joined the Gold Coast Titans but did not make his NRL debut until round 27 this season, although his time at the club was marred by a spinal injury.<\/p>\n
Despite having one year left on his Titans contract, Gordon wanted to return to rugby.<\/p>\n
The Titans announced on Monday they had granted the 24-year-old an immediate release from his deal.<\/p>\n
“I’m stoked to return to the game I grew up playing and loving as a kid, especially with the opportunity to represent the team I grew up supporting, the Queensland Reds,” Gordon said in a Reds statement.<\/p>\n
“I’ve watched both Queensland and the Wallabies from afar over the past year or so, and the journey they’re on motivates me to want to work hard and contribute positively on and off the field.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Carter Gordon had a short-lived stint with the Titans in the NRL. (AAP: Jason O’Brien)<\/p>\n
Gordon played for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby Pacific before joining the NRL ranks.<\/p>\n
With the Rebels no longer in the competition, the playmaker’s move to the Reds is a natural fit, given he grew up on the Sunshine Coast and completed his schooling at Brisbane Boys’ College.<\/p>\n
The Reds already have Wallabies fly half Tom Lynagh on their books, as well as the promising Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.<\/p>\n
This could force Gordon to play inside centre or fullback if Reds coach Les Kiss chooses to show faith in the fly-half options already available.<\/p>\n
Gordon’s return to rugby will help the Wallabies address the issue of depth at fly half, which is a concern for coach Joe Schmidt and his successor Kiss.<\/p>\n
Kiss, who will finish up with the Reds before replacing Schmidt as Wallabies coach next year, described Gordon’s signing as “great news”.<\/p>\n
“Carter is a quality player who no doubt deepens our (the Reds) playing options in the key positions of fly half, fullback and inside centre,” Kiss said.<\/p>\n
“In every Super Rugby Pacific season, there are challenges with how byes are placed and travel periods. Increasing depth across our squad is definitely helpful.”<\/p>\n
Gordon returning to his roots<\/p>\n
Gordon first signed with the Reds as a 17-year-old in 2018 but did not play a Super Rugby match with the franchise.<\/p>\n
He debuted for the Rebels in 2021 and played 46 matches across four seasons with the now-defunct team.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Carter Gordon previously appeared for the Rebels in Super Rugby Pacific. (Getty Images: Asanka Ratnayake)<\/p>\n
In the 2023 Rugby Championship, then-Wallabies coach Eddie Jones awarded Gordon his Test debut \u2014 off the bench \u2014 against South Africa in Pretoria.<\/p>\n
He scored a try in the dying stages of the Wallabies’ comprehensive 43-12 defeat to the world champion Springboks.<\/p>\n
Later in the Rugby Championship, Gordon earned a run-on debut at fly half in the Wallabies’ 38-7 loss to New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.<\/p>\n
Gordon was a member of Jones’s squad at the 2023 World Cup in France, where they made unwanted tournament history by becoming the first Wallabies team to miss qualifying for the knock-out stages.<\/p>\n
His deal with RA and the Reds means he will be a contender for the Wallabies squad when Australia hosts the 2027 World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carter Gordon is switching codes again, having signed with Rugby Australia (RA) and the Queensland Reds in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[89838,64,63,122907,28588,2485,158,701,13506,760,159,2633,15131,85,22958,2500],"class_list":["post-209206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-89838","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-carter-gordon","tag-eddie-jones","tag-gold-coast","tag-nrl","tag-queensland","tag-reds","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-league","tag-rugby-union","tag-rugby-world-cup","tag-sports","tag-titans","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209206","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=209206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}