{"id":916007,"date":"2026-10-04T16:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/916007\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T16:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:42:12","slug":"made-his-mark-nawaqanitawase-the-adventurer-sails-off-to-his-next-challenge-nrl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/916007\/","title":{"rendered":"Made his Mark: Nawaqanitawase the adventurer sails off to his next challenge | NRL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMark\u2019s a bit of an adventurer,\u201d the Roosters coach, Trent Robinson, volunteered about his departing winger Mark Nawaqanitawase, perhaps the most-liked player in the NRL<\/a>, after his final appearance.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old has completed rugby league in a little over two years, having secured a premiership in Sunday\u2019s grand final<\/a>, to go along with State of Origin and Kangaroos accolades. He finished with an extraordinary 47 tries in 47 NRL matches, including seven in his last four.<\/p>\n

An adventurer. It\u2019s a description that should not come as a surprise given Nawaqanitawase\u2019s unorthodox approach to the wing position. Though, yes, the coach was referring to the decision by the code-hopper to sign a two-year contract with Japanese rugby union club Saitama.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always going to travel and play in those different codes,\u201d Robinson continued. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you see him back one day. I feel like he\u2019s made a big difference to us. And we\u2019ve also made a big difference to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has been barely two years since the former \u2013 and likely future \u2013 Wallaby showed up at Moore Park. Back then, his \u201carms were painted on\u201d and he \u201ccould not tackle\u201d, Robinson joked. The coach was comfortable ribbing his player in public largely because Nawaqanitawase\u2019s brilliance is now without question.<\/p>\n

Mark Nawaqanitawase of the Roosters and Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson celebrate after winning the 2026 NRL grand final. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts\/AAP<\/p>\n

The grand final was more proof. Two tries. Almost two more. At least half a dozen moments that would be the highlight of many other wingers\u2019 seasons. While other Roosters were booed by the stadium filled largely with Newcastle supporters, the consensus cheers for Nawaqanitawase emphasised the impact this extraordinary athlete has made in his two full seasons in the NRL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he gets the ball, you sort of go: \u2018OK, um, what\u2019s going to happen here? What can he do?\u2019,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cWhen other people get the ball in the same situation, you sort of know what\u2019s going to happen. When Mark gets it, there\u2019s like this energy that \u2018OK, he can do something here\u2019, always. And he believes he can do something always.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first half he leaped so high for a ball, when he came down his knee hit the face of Greg Marzhew, rotating Nawaqanitawase towards the touchline. The angle of his re-entry was exacerbated by the impact of Kalyn Ponga, forcing the winger\u2019s reaching arm to drop the ball for his first near-miss.<\/p>\n

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Not long after, Nawaqanitawase\u2019s aerial dominance was obvious again, when the winger easily batted back another kick towards his teammates. What followed was the highlight of the match, and the Roosters winger was central, even though it was Ponga who had picked up Nawaqanitawase\u2019s deflection to run the length of the field for a Newcastle try.<\/p>\n

These were warning signs for Nawaqanitawase\u2019s ensuing explosion. A ball from Rob Toia bounced towards him, and he kicked it forward three times in a single stride, the kind of touch that would be ridiculed in the round ball game unless it led to a goal. Sure enough, the winger regathered for the crucial first Roosters try after a bewildering first half they had dominated without \u2013 until then \u2013 reward. It was a frankly ridiculous four-pointer, that looked borderline accidental. But that\u2019s Nawaqanitawase, on a crusade to upend expectation.<\/p>\n

Mark Nawaqanitawase (left) and Robert Toia hold the Provan-Summons Trophy after the Roosters\u2019 triumph on Sunday. Photograph: Mark Evans\/AAP<\/p>\n

His presence in a Roosters\u2019 team not widely liked helped ease the sadness as the Tricolours edged out the underdog Knights. Newcastle\u2019s forwards were slowly undone by the assault, and their famous strike-from-anywhere attack led by Ponga had been quelled by the sliding Roosters centres Billy Smith and Toia, keeping the Knights to just two linebreaks.<\/p>\n

Another Nawaqanitawase try followed in the second half, and the winger came close on two more occasions. Even when he was not within reach of the line, the late offloads and audacious kicks, a tiptoe down the sideline, even the tough carries for which he has increasingly become known, were each a decoration to his own farewell party.<\/p>\n

The NRL world is partly in mourning about his departure, while the remainder are in disbelief union might have got one over them. His contract with the Wild Knights of Saitama, with a reported annual salary of $1.4m, was eye-watering when it was first revealed in January. After his exploits in recent months, it\u2019s starting to look like a steal.<\/p>\n

Of course, Robinson wants Nawaqanitawase to return to the Roosters after his two years in Japan, which neatly bookend next year\u2019s home Rugby World Cup. Even if he does not come back to the NRL, however, the past two years will not soon be forgotten. They are atestament to the freakish brilliance of a player of his own protoype.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to think of a winger that\u2019s had as bigger impact,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cWhat Mark\u2019s done from the wing, wingers touching the ball in so many different types and styles and that. I hope he\u2019s created another generation of those types of players.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMark\u2019s a bit of an adventurer,\u201d the Roosters coach, Trent Robinson, volunteered about his departing winger Mark Nawaqanitawase,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":916008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-916007","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\/916007","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=916007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}