{"id":425281,"date":"2026-01-20T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425281\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:42:09","slug":"nrl-and-australia-set-for-1-million-exit-as-stars-future-is-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425281\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL and Australia set for \u00a31 million exit as star\u2019s future is revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The superstar is set to leave the NRL for a mega deal.<\/p>\n<p>09:39, 20 Jan 2026Updated 09:39, 20 Jan 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_GettyImages-2245197353.jpg\" alt=\"Sydney Roosters and Kangaroos star Mark Nawaqanitawase is set for a mega-deal in rugby union.\" loading=\"eager\"  \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Sydney Roosters and Kangaroos star Mark Nawaqanitawase is set for a mega-deal in rugby union.\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Sydney Roosters and Kangaroos star Mark Nawaqanitawase is set for a mega-deal in rugby union.(Image: )<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The NRL competition is set to lose one of its biggest stars to a contract worth approximately \u00a31 million. Sydney Roosters winger and Australian international Mark Nawaqanitawase has reportedly agreed to a lucrative two-year deal with a Japanese Division One rugby union club, beginning at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The 25-year-old previously played rugby union for the NSW Waratahs before making a high-profile cross-code switch to the Roosters in 2024. He enjoyed immediate success in the NRL, scoring a competition-best 24 tries in 23 appearances during the 2025 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Nawaqanitawase\u2019s form earned him an international call-up with the Kangaroos for the historic Ashes series in England, adding to his impressive resume that includes six tries in 11 Tests for the Wallabies between 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Last year, Nawaqanitawase informed the Roosters of his intention to leave the club at the end of 2026 as he targets selection for a home Rugby Union World Cup in 2027. Current eligibility rules allow him to play club rugby in Japan while remaining available for Australian selection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/rugby-union\/nawaqanitawase-lands-multimillion-dollar-japan-deal-to-keep-world-cup-dream-alive-20260119-p5nv7u.html\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> reports that the move is worth $1million per season, turning down strong interest from France. Japan has increasingly become a destination for rugby union\u2019s biggest names, with lucrative contracts on offer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Despite his impending departure, the Roosters are reportedly keen for Nawaqanitawase to return to the club following the conclusion of his Japanese deal in 2028 &#8211; while the player has also admitted that he would be interest in a return to the Sydney club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The superstar is set to leave the NRL for a mega deal. 09:39, 20 Jan 2026Updated 09:39, 20&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-425281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425281","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=425281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}