{"id":935003,"date":"2026-10-20T14:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935003\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T14:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:06:09","slug":"matt-giteau-slams-mark-nawaqanitawases-agent-amid-suggestions-of-allegiance-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935003\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Giteau SLAMS Mark Nawaqanitawase’s agent amid suggestions of allegiance switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wallabies legends have questioned the intentions of Mark Nawaqanitawase\u2019s agent, Milan Volavola-Shankar, after he reportedly suggested the superstar winger could be eligible to play for Italy<\/a> or Fiji ahead of next year\u2019s Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase has arrived in Japan at the Saitama Wild Knights ahead of the 2026\/27 season after an incredibly successful two-year stint with the Sydney Roosters<\/a> in the National Rugby League.<\/p>\n

Averaging a try a game in rugby\u2019s 13-man code, Marky Mark, as he is fondly called, is expected to be hot property when he laces his boots back up in union.<\/p>\n

His arrival back in the 15-man game will not necessarily be long-term, however, as he has only signed a two-year deal in Japan. But it\u2019s not the transfer of club sides that is currently generating interest; it\u2019s his allegiance to the national side.<\/p>\n

Although Nawaqanitawase is a fully capped Wallabies international, with over a handful of tries to his name, he has not played for the national side in over three years, with his last appearance in the green and gold coming against Portugal in the pool stages at the 2023 World Cup. <\/p>\n

Of both Italian and Fijian heritage, Nawaqanitawase<\/a> is now eligible to switch nations due to the international stand-down laws, but Drew Mitchell believes the rumours surrounding his defection are simply a money-motivated \u201cploy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s just a bit of a ploy for Rugby Australia to have to dip into their coffers if they want him to play for us, because otherwise we get him really just off the back of Panasonic paying for him to come back to rugby,\u201d he said on the KOKO podcast.<\/p>\n

Victor Matfield\u2019s \u2018what Rassie would like\u2019 prediction and where the Springboks can \u2018still get better\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t want to be with us, then why pay for that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Formal Wallabies<\/a> playmaker Matt Giteau was rather more blunt with his assessment, saying what many Australians are likely thinking. \u201cWhatever he wants to do, he should go and do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a proud Wallaby and a proud Australian, I want people that want to play for our country to play for our country. So if you don\u2019t feel honoured, or that\u2019s not where your allegiance lies, that\u2019s fine too. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got people that choose different countries, whatever. I want the people that want to play for the Wallabies to play for the Wallabies. If you don\u2019t, then go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase was a big loss when he left union aged just 23, but now that he has returned with three seasons of top-level league under his belt, he will hopefully have evolved into a world-class talent. But Giteau doesn\u2019t believe that Rugby Australia should have to pay for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what Marky can bring, and how good he has been in league and what he could offer rugby,\u201d he said. \u201cHe could be huge for us, but if he doesn\u2019t want to be with us, then why pay for that?<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t pay to have his loyalty. I just don\u2019t agree with that. Your loyalty should come off the back of wanting to play for the jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Looking back at his own career, alongside panellists Adam Ashley-Cooper, Stephen Larkham and Mitchell, Giteau added: \u201cFor us, Drew, Toulon were paying our fees. They weren\u2019t paying us, but we didn\u2019t ask Australian rugby to come in because at that time you are honoured and you want to go play for your country. If Japan\u2019s paying for your salary, great. That\u2019s good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell agreed, saying: \u201cI\u2019m hoping maybe that\u2019s just the angle rather than serious consideration for playing for someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Victor Matfield\u2019s \u2018what Rassie would like\u2019 prediction and where the Springboks can \u2018still get better\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wallabies legends have questioned the intentions of Mark Nawaqanitawase\u2019s agent, Milan Volavola-Shankar, after he reportedly suggested the superstar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,818,1182,44,760,85],"class_list":["post-935003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935003","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=935003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}