Winning over money. That’s the motivation driving Mark Nawaqanitawase’s decision regarding his international availability 12 months out from next year’s Rugby World Cup on Australian soil.
“I still have more to prove. I don’t know where that’s going to be, but wherever I go, I feel like I have a lot to give the team,” Nawaqanitawase said on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast.
“Whoever it’s for, I want to go and win it. I don’t know who it will be for, but time will tell.”
Weeks after helping the Sydney Roosters to the NRL title, the code-hopping sensation exploded back into the headlines last week after turning down invitations to immediately rejoin the Wallabies for next month’s Nations Championship.
Nawaqanitawase initially said he wanted the November period off so he could adjust to life in Japan, where he’s joined League One heavyweights the Wild Knights. But by doing so, the 26-year-old will become eligible for Italy and Fiji by next August, having served his mandatory three-year international stand-down period.
While Nawaqanitawase said it had been a “massive honour” playing for the Wallabies and he “loved every moment of it”, the flying winger added that declaring his allegiance to a nation ahead of next year’s World Cup wasn’t easy.
“I will obviously have a few things to think of,” he said.
“I want to make sure wherever I go, I’m happy, and the people around me, my family, are happy too. There’s a lot to think about. These decisions will have a massive impact on how your life goes.”
Nawaqanitawase’s decision not to come out immediately and declare his allegiance has caused a massive stir in Australian rugby.
Wallabies coach Les Kiss last week insisted conversations with the cross-code star were “positive”.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson added: “I don’t think I have to convince him. I played Junior Wallabies with him, played Wallabies with him, and saw him last night supporting the Kangaroos. So, I think it’s pretty obvious who he wants to play for.”
But Wallabies great Matt Giteau said he didn’t think Rugby Australia should have to beg the try-scoring machine to want to pull on the gold jersey.
“I want the people that want to play for the Wallabies to play for the Wallabies,” he said on the KOKO podcast. “If you don’t, then go somewhere else.”
Nawaqanitawase insisted money wasn’t a factor, pointing to the fact that he had already accepted a deal – estimated to be about $3 million over two years – to join the Wild Knights.
Instead, he said he wanted to experience that winning feeling he had enjoyed at the Roosters during the past two years.
“It’s not about the money,” he said. “I get paid by my club and then if you play internationally, you might get a match fee, but it’s [insignificant].
“That’s the biggest thing that’s made me open to everything is I’ve come from an experience at the Roosters where, I’m telling you, the set-up from top to bottom, just the way they’ve made me feel, and again the experience I had winning, I definitely do have to think about where am I going to go where I’m going to get that feeling again. People will never understand that, and that’s the biggest part of making the decision.”
While Nawaqanitawase has become a household name in Australian sport in recent years, rarely has the 190cm physical freak opened up about his childhood and culture.
Nawaqanitawase, whose biological father, Sevuloni, is from Fiji, while his mother, Fiona Tovehi, has Italian heritage, said Australians would be “shocked at how in time I am with both cultures”.
“I’ve grown up in a household full of Fijians,” he said.
“The other side of it is my mother’s fluent in Italian and my aunties and grandparents have grown up on the same street. Any special event, there’s been Italian food around and the language being spoken about.
“And growing up in a house full of Fijians; my mum’s got a big heart – I’ve grown up my whole life with not just my mum and stepdad and brother and sister, it’s been us, plus another Fijian family – and it’s been on rotation. They stay for two years and another one will come in.”
Nawaqanitawase said he would travel to Fiji every year during school holidays.
“I grew up in the village running around playing touch, whether it was with a coconut or a bottle, playing volleyball or just swimming in the river,” he said. “I’m lucky to have some cool experiences with my Fijian side.”