{"id":794962,"date":"2026-07-12T06:17:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/794962\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T06:17:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:17:28","slug":"human-highlights-reel-open-to-rugby-league-exit-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/794962\/","title":{"rendered":"Human highlights reel open to rugby league exit party"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trent Robinson declares Mark Nawaqanitawase has the greatest ball mastery of any player he’s ever seen, as the superstar winger leaves the door open for a Kangaroos World Cup farewell.<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase added another spectacular moment to his NRL highlights reel on Saturday night against Parramatta, when he flung a ball back inside behind his back for a Robert Toia try<\/p>\n

The Roosters flyer hit Toia on the chest despite having little sight of where his support players were, as he himself was being forced over the sideline.<\/p>\n

The rugby-bound star has spent just two years in the NRL, but has arguably produced more box-office highlights than any player since Benji Marshall in his prime.<\/p>\n

“You can have individual skill, but you can have ball mastery on the end of it,” Roosters coach Robinson said.<\/p>\n

“Can you control that ball at all different angles, at all different heights? And that’s what he’s got.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“His ability to know where the ball is around his body, 360 degrees, how to change his fingers, how to change the pass, how to move it into space.<\/p>\n

“He’s by far the best I’ve ever seen at that.<\/p>\n

“Sonny Bill (Williams) was the other one that had it. They’re in rare, rare, those two, in my opinion.”<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase grew up idolising Williams, and at one stage even contemplated getting the same tattoos as his fellow cross-code star.<\/p>\n

\"ddd\"<\/p>\n

Dual international Sonny Bill Williams (c) was an idol for Mark Nawaqanitwase. (Dan Himbrechts\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

But he said his own skills had been inspired in the backyard as a child, with most coming naturally to him.<\/p>\n

“It was just growing up, playing with the ball, seeing what I can do with it, and being confident enough to do it,” the Roosters flyer said.<\/p>\n

“It’s just natural … It all happens pretty quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You catch it, you’re just running, and then I know my body is already in a spot to do (something). It just happens.<\/p>\n

“You definitely think about (how cool it might look afterwards). You think ‘oh shoot, that just happened’.”<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

Superb put downs have become just part of the Mark Nawaqanitawase experience. (Steven Markham\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase got his first taste of State of Origin in NSW’s series win, and also debuted for Australia in last year’s Ashes.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old has agreed to join Japanese rugby club Saitama Wild Knights this summer, before eyeing off a Wallabies return at next year’s home World Cup.<\/p>\n

The Japan season starts in December, but Nawaqanitawase has refused to rule out featuring in this year’s Rugby League World Cup if contracts allow.<\/p>\n

Australia’s campaign kicks off against New Zealand on October 15, while the final is in Brisbane exactly one month later.<\/p>\n

\"hhh\"<\/p>\n

The State of Origin Shield could be one of several trophies Mark Nawaqanitawase lifts in 2026. (Dave Hunt\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“It would be a great opportunity. A World Cup in Australia, New Zealand and PNG, I’m more than happy to be a part of it,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know (if I can) yet. I’ve got to talk to the club that I’m going to. I’ve got to work out dates and stuff.<\/p>\n

“It’s all legal kind of stuff, it’s up to them.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trent Robinson declares Mark Nawaqanitawase has the greatest ball mastery of any player he’s ever seen, as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,78628,158,9120,760,2815,85,4737,21418],"class_list":["post-794962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mark-nawaqanitawase","tag-nrl","tag-roosters","tag-rugby","tag-sonny-bill-williams","tag-sports","tag-trent-robinson","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794962","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=794962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}