Opinion

Columnist and author October 24, 2026 — 5:00am

October 24, 2026 — 5:00am

Mark Nawaqanitawase? Bring it in tight. It’s about your carry-on, about whether you will or won’t – and you do or don’t – want to play for the Wallabies.

Mate, you’re about as good a winger as we’ve seen. You do things we’ve never witnessed done on the football field. If you don’t play for the Wallabies next year, you’ll be missed.

Mark Nawaqanitawase and Roosters teammates pose with juniors at Allianz Stadium. Getty Images

But when the news came through that you were coming back to rugby, it never occurred to any of us that you wouldn’t be desperate to turn out for Australia? (#FFS!)

And that is why, like most, I dismissed out of hand the notion that you might turn out for Italy or Fiji instead, as had been floated. I wrote as much to you last week in this column. I said, love, I said pet, I said, look : “If you don’t turn up, Mark Nawaqanitawase, well, don’t get us started.…