{"id":236451,"date":"2025-10-24T02:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/236451\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T02:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:00:08","slug":"kangaroo-nawaqanitawase-will-earn-wallabies-recall-in-2027-says-les-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/236451\/","title":{"rendered":"Kangaroo Nawaqanitawase will earn Wallabies recall in 2027, says Les Kiss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss says dual international Mark Nawaqanitawase will have to earn his spot back in the side when he returns to rugby union in 2027.<\/p>\n

Kiss has no doubt the 25-year-old will add an extra dimension to Australian rugby after his final year of NRL with the Sydney Roosters in 2026.<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase will make his Kangaroos debut against England at Wembley on Sunday (AEDT) and is tipped to sign with European rugby in 2027 as he gears up for a World Cup year.<\/p>\n

The star back topped the NRL try-scoring charts with 24 tries in 23 games in 2025.<\/p>\n

Kiss, the Queensland Reds coach, did not rule the franchise out of making a play for the Roosters star, but he will be in charge of the Wallabies by the time 2027 rolls around.<\/p>\n

“I think there’s a little bit of water to go under the bridge before we get to those discussions. One thing’s certain, he’s earned his way to that Kangaroo jersey,” Kiss said.<\/p>\n

“We know he loves the game of rugby, so all options are open.”<\/p>\n

Kiss said playing rugby in Europe would not dent Nawaqanitawase’s chances of adding to his 11 Tests.<\/p>\n

“I think that boundary’s moved a little bit,” Kiss said.<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase becomes dual international <\/a><\/p>\n

Ex-Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase and Reece Walsh are among four players named to make their debuts for Australia in the opening Ashes rugby league Test against England.<\/p>\n

“It took him time to get the skill set going in rugby league, but I have no doubt he’ll come back and add something for sure.<\/p>\n

“Every year, every player grows a bit, and the wisdom he’ll get from what he has learned from the rugby league game will be fantastic.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got wingers currently in the Wallaby set-up and the Super Rugby teams, but he brings that sense of instructiveness into the game. He’s not afraid to roam around the park and make moments his own and create opportunities for people.<\/p>\n

“It’s not that different to what we’ve got at the moment with Filipo (Daugunu) and Max Jorgensen, and those are boys doing similar. He’s going to have to earn his way.”<\/p>\n

Former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is director of rugby at Japanese club Wild Knights, who will play the Reds at Ballymore on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Deans said Kiss would have a challenge selecting a team if players such as Nawaqanitawase played off-shore.<\/p>\n

“There’s now a queue there. There are lots of good wingers in Australia. How Les handles those decisions will be interesting,” Deans said.<\/p>\n

“It’s getting harder and that’s what you want. You want blokes to want to be nearby so they’re being seen, because unless you’ve got a point of difference, if you’re somewhere else, it’s very hard.<\/p>\n

“Nawaqanitawase has obviously enjoyed the experience he’s had, and what he’s about to have will be good for him as an individual. He’ll bring that back with him, and he’s already performed well at an international level, so that’s great for rugby.”<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase spoke recently about the wonderful opportunities offered by rugby to see the world and open horizons. That is a key factor that Deans likes about his return to the union game.<\/p>\n

“For me, more importantly, it’s the messaging,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Both he and Joseph [Suaalii], the way they talk about rugby’s point of difference I think is a very important message. You want to see the world and play in a game that’s the ultimate team game.<\/p>\n

“That’s a great message for the next generation.”<\/p>\n

AAP\/ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss says dual international Mark Nawaqanitawase will have to earn his spot back in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13285,64,63,941,3195,92253,78628,158,141724,9120,159,2633,588,85,2500],"class_list":["post-236451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ashes","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-japan","tag-kangaroos","tag-les-kiss","tag-mark-nawaqanitawase","tag-nrl","tag-robbie-deans","tag-roosters","tag-rugby-league","tag-rugby-union","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236451","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=236451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}