Recalled Wallabies utility back Jordan Petaia has revealed how his American football dream was ruined after he attempted to train through a misdiagnosed injury.<\/p>\n
Last week, Wallabies head coach Les Kiss included Petaia in his 34-man squad for next Sunday\u2019s one-off Test against the Springboks in Perth.<\/p>\n
Petaia<\/a>, who recently joined Japan Rugby League One outfit Urayasu D-Rocks, last represented Australia<\/a> at international level during the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old left Australian rugby in 2024 to pursue a dream in the NFL where he had a successful trial with the Los Angeles Chargers.<\/p>\n Forced to leave the Chargers after four months<\/p>\n After initially signing a three-year contract with the Chargers as part of the International Player Pathway, the Chargers eventually released Petaia just four months later.<\/p>\n This, after a persisting hamstring injury had turned out to be more serious than first thought. He eventually joined Top 14 club Perpignan, who he represented in 12 matches during the 2024\/25 season.<\/p>\n Petaia admitted that he loved his time in the NFL but said what he thought was a minor tendonitis hamstring injury turned out to be much worse than its initial diagnosis.<\/p>\n \u201cI was kind of misdiagnosed over there,\u201d he told AAP. \u201cI kept trying to train through it. It\u2019s hard over there when you\u2019re new to the sport and you\u2019re trying to prove yourself.<\/p>\n Wallabies squad: Jordan Petaia returns from international exile for one-off Test against the Springboks<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI then ended up getting a second opinion on it. I had a hamstring tendon (issue), which was unfortunate. But that\u2019s sports, and then obviously signed the medical settlement and ended up coming back to Australia.<\/p>\n \u2018I think it\u2019s just unfortunate\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no bad blood with the misdiagnosis. I think it\u2019s just unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n