The Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup drought might have stretched to 24 years, but dual international Michael O’Connor believes Mark Nawaqanitawase’s extraordinary two-year stint in rugby league proves the 15-a-side game in Australia still produces world-class talent.
“You look at his ability and what he’s been able to do; to me, it reflects really well on rugby that we have a player like him come over to rugby league, and there are quite a lot of sceptics in rugby league around rugby union, and to see how he’s dominated the competition, I think it’s a good thing,” O’Connor said.
Nawaqanitawase’s decision to sign with the Roosters following the Wallabies’ dreaded 2023 World Cup campaign caused a stir in Australian rugby.
Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh was shocked the talented back, who had only broken into the Wallabies in late 2022, was jumping codes just 12 months later.
But the athletic winger, who scored twice on his Super Rugby debut in 2020 and also bagged a double in his third Test against Wales in Cardiff, never looked back.
Nawaqanitawase made an immediate impression in league, soaring high against the South Sydney Rabbitohs to score on debut.
He then topped the tryscorers list in 2025 (with 24) to earn Kangaroos selection for the Ashes in England, before bowing out with an Origin series win and an NRL title, where he scored twice in the Roosters’ 19-18 win, to cap an incredible 26 months.
O’Connor, who played 13 Tests for the Wallabies before scoring 87 tries across 10 seasons of rugby league for St George and Manly, said he wasn’t shocked Nawaqanitawase had scaled such heights, having first seen him during his short second stint as a selector with the Wallabies in 2019.
But he added that the player returning to rugby, where he will join Japanese League One club Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, was better than the one who left rugby in mid-2024 following the Paris Olympics.
“The Roosters certainly did their homework when they signed him,” O’Connor said.
“He’s a real athlete, and that was apparent even when I was a selector.
“He made the Australian under-20 squad that went over to Argentina in 2019. He was scoring tries, he had a great instinct for the game and where the ball was, and his visual awareness was through the roof. But I think he’s just grown into a man, and he’s a far more complete footballer now.
“I think his move to rugby league has been a good thing; it certainly has brushed up some areas of his game … he’ll go back up with a lot of confidence.”
Whether the Wallabies bear the fruit of his two years in rugby league remains to be seen.
Wallabies coach Les Kiss wanted to pick the 26-year-old for next month’s Nations Championship campaign in the United Kingdom, but Nawaqanitawase ruled himself out after seeking time off.
The decision means Nawaqanitawase could run out for Fiji or Italy next year, given the outside back would have missed the last three years of international rugby.
O’Connor said Nawaqanitawase’s availability would be critical for the Wallabies if they wanted to go deep at next year’s World Cup.
“At a World Cup, it’s just apparent that you need world-class players, and a lot of them,” he said.
‘He’s a far more complete footballer now.’
Michael O’Connor on Mark Nawaqanitawase
“Just watching New Zealand on the weekend, just the power of their lineup, there’s just no weaknesses, and that’s where we need to go. We need to get a complement of players who’ve played together and got no weaknesses.
“He’s a world-class player, and that’s what we need. When we’ve had success in the past, we’ve had world-class players.”
While Nawaqanitawase might be unavailable for the Wallabies, fellow Origin cross-code star Zac Lomax could get the chance to push for a national call-up on Sunday when Australia A takes on the USA Eagles in Nashville.
Lomax will be hoping to link up with another former Origin star, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who will later this week be named for his third spring tour.
O’Connor said he felt Suaalii, who was exposed defensively during the Wallabies’ 43-21 defeat in Sydney on Saturday, had been harshly rated since being catapulted into the Australian team in late 2024.
“I feel a bit sorry for him in a way,” O’Connor said.
“He’s not complained once, but he’s played a number of positions, and he seems to be playing one position, and then someone says he’s a fullback or winger, or an outside centre.
“It’s apparent that he has got great attacking skills. He’s very effective at running at the line and breaking through the line, and we need players to do that.”
O’Connor, who made his Wallabies debut in 1979, a year before the great Mark Ella first ran out in gold, said today’s generation needed to play flatter at the line.
“If you can look at where we can improve, we’re playing a lot behind the advantage line because of the rush defence, particularly from South Africa and also New Zealand,” he said.
“But we need players to get through the advantage line and Suaalii can do that. He’s got good feet, he’s got good attacking nous, so there’s a spot for him there somewhere.”