{"id":25933,"date":"2025-07-27T22:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T22:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/25933\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T22:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T22:00:08","slug":"is-marky-mark-set-to-become-a-dual-international-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/25933\/","title":{"rendered":"Is \u2018Marky Mark\u2019 set to become a dual international star?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roosters utility back Mark Nawaqanitawase has earned high praise from fellow Tricolours product and current Wallabies star Joseph Suaalii, who believes the rugby union convert is destined to join the elite ranks of dual internationals.<\/p>\n

Since making the leap from rugby union to the NRL at the end of the 2024 season, Nawaqanitawase has hit the ground running \u2013 wowing fans and critics alike with his electrifying attacking style.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old has quickly become one of the Sydney Roosters\u2019 most lethal strike weapons, notching up 13 tries and 14 line breaks in just 14 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among his standout moments is a jaw-dropping solo try against the Bulldogs \u2013 now in contention for \u2018Try of the Year\u2019 \u2013 and he\u2019s widely tipped to take out the 2025 Dally M Rookie of the Year Award.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Could Roosters veteran make NRL history?<\/a><\/p>\n

Already a seasoned rugby union international with 11 Wallabies appearances between 2022 and 2023, Nawaqanitawase is now on the cusp of joining the elite ranks of dual-code stars, with eligibility to represent both Australia and Fiji in rugby league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reports also suggest that he narrowly missed selection for Fiji\u2019s squad in the 2024 Pacific Championships against the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

Although their time together at the Roosters was brief, Wallabies star and fellow rugby union convert Joseph Suaalii has thrown his support behind \u201cMarky Mark\u201d to succeed on the international rugby league stage.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, one hundred per cent. I feel like whatever he wants to do in his life, he can do it,” Suaalii told AAP.<\/p>\n

“You can see his athletic ability, his natural instinct, the way he can offload and run the ball.<\/p>\n

“There’s all these different things he can do on a league and rugby field, so the sky’s the limit for Marky Mark.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reflecting on their time playing together, Suaalii praised Nawaqanitawase\u2019s quick adaptation to the new code.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I had the pleasure of playing one game with him (at the Roosters in 2024) and he’s picking up the game so quickly,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think the greatest thing he has is he wants to learn and he’s a quick learner too. Honestly, it looks seamless the way he’s doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roosters utility back Mark Nawaqanitawase has earned high praise from fellow Tricolours product and current Wallabies star Joseph…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-25933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25933","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=25933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}