{"id":500347,"date":"2026-04-27T12:58:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=500347"},"modified":"2026-04-27T23:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:25:23","slug":"cross-code-stars-sad-realisation-over-looming-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=500347","title":{"rendered":"Cross-code star's 'sad' realisation over looming exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cross-code superstar Mark Nawaqanitawase<\/a> hasn't officially ruled out a return to the NRL one day as he prepares to shift back to rugby union<\/a> in a bid to make the Wallabies World Cup squad.<\/p>\n

\ufeffNawaqanitawase will end his three-year stint at the Roosters<\/a> when this season finishes before moving to Japan to join Saitama Wild Knights.<\/p>\n

The exciting outside back\ufeff spoke to media in Bondi and did his best to dodge questions around future rep honours in both codes.<\/p>\n

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The 25-year-old has been part of discussions for a NSW Blues debut and also joined a pre-season Origin camp.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He told reporters he hasn't received a call from coach Laurie Daley recently and while admitting it would be a dream to play for the Blues he defaulted frequently that his focus at the moment is on the Roosters.<\/p>\n

\ufeffAsked about a spring campaign with the Wallabies too, Nawaqanitawase said it's the "last thing on my mind".<\/p>\n

Since switching to league though, he admits there's been changes in his ability as an athlete.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I'm a different player to what I was two or three years ago," he said.<\/p>\n

"In a non-arrogant way, bigger, better and faster. I've grown up a little bit. My physical aspect means I can do a lot more and just (be better) defensively as well. I've learned so much that I know it will make me a better player wherever I go."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As for the curly question about whether he'd come back, nothing was ruled out.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffLike I've said before, it could be an option, \ufeffbut it's so far away so I don't know," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nawaqanitawase also had emotions about leaving the Roosters, declaring "I'm going to miss everyone".<\/p>\n

"Actually the last few weeks I've come \ufeffto the realisation it's going to be my last few days coming up. It's been quite sad thinking about it because I love the club, I love the boys," he said.<\/p>\n

Teammate Angus Crichton is also in a similar position, leaving the Roosters for rugby union at the end of the season.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The thoughts of saying goodbye to his teammates haven't quite come to him yet.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Knowing it was probably going to be my last Anzac Day game I had a few thoughts but \ufeffI'm not thinking big picture yet so I guess those emotions will probably come down the track later on," he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cross-code superstar Mark Nawaqanitawase hasn't officially ruled out a return to the NRL one day as he prepares to shift back to rugby union in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":500349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=500347"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":500352,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500347\/revisions\/500352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/500349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=500347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=500347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=500347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}