Mark Nawaqanitawase to Swap Union for Rugby League
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Wallabies and Waratahs winger Mark Nawaqanitawase has been confirmed to leave the rugby union as he signs for NRL side the Roosters from the 2025 season
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I never got into Rugby League in the UK (still haven't) but I lived in Australia for a few years at the end of the 90s / early 2000s so I watched a fair bit of NRL. The quality and physicality was outstanding, particularly the State of Origin games which were just brutal. League in Australia was completely different to League in the UK and much more exciting to watch. It's no wonder that their Union side is struggling these days when you have 2 similar sports in NRL and AFL with much bigger fan bases. Hard to see what their Union can really do about it - perhaps pouring money into the youth game would do the trick, but it's an uphill struggle for sure.
They can't outspend a genuinely solvent and profitable business that has massive cultural penetration
@@gileschenery974 Yeah, NFL and AFL are much more popular in Oz. But that was true 20 years ago when they had a cracking Union team, so perhaps there's hope.
Says alot about how grand the NRL is compared to Super League.
@@lebowski_dude The thing is, even at private schools now the tides have changed, with many schoolboys preferring league
Getting rid of Dave Rennie gave them an even bigger headache and heartburn 🤒
Unfortunately for rugby au the problems run deeper than the coach
Dumb and Dumber
Makes sense for him to make that swap. Big blow for Australia. Feel like I've seen multiple Wallabies games where Nawaqantiawase was the only person who seemed able to inject any purpose into attacks. It's a pity that the relationship between union and league is so negative in Australia because if there was a more positive relationship it really could be great for Australia. Admittedly, it would probably help the Wallabies more because they seem to have been in dire straits for years now, but union does have a bigger global platform.
there's far more money in league than union in Australia
Just to put your argument into prospective it may be a big blow for the Australian Rugby Union but it is a big plus for the Australian Rugby League and thats far more popular here. Rubgy League or their supporter base dont really have that much interest in the Wallabies or how they perform on the world stage. I doubt there would be too many current Wallaby players who would make an NRL or even a 2nd tier team. .At the moment I think the NRL are only robbing players to piss off those Rugby big heads who wanted to start a poaching war.
It makes no sense for league to have a relationship with Union. There were always historic rival codes, with league always being more popular(since the 1910s actually), in the last 20 years NRL has pulled ahead with daylight 2nd. In the last 10 years, they have been mutually okay with each other acknowledging the NRL is more powerful, but after Eddie Jones was being a d***head, trying to steal heaps of NRL players are trying to start a war union was never going to win, Union now seems like an annoying fly that needs to swatted away instead of a small insect not causing too much bother.
This isn't a massive surprise and it is one of what will become many hangovers from the dark days of the McLennan/Jones era.
Also btw i see little incentive for an Aussie player to stay in union just because the Lions are due to tour in 2025. The Wallabies team that played at RWC this year would be hard pressed to beat any single team from the home nations, let alone the Lions, and that is unlikely to change much in the next 1.5 years.
Also if you mention the Lions to most Aussies, they would assume you're talking about the mighty Brisbane Lions, the AFL team!
Lol very true
I didn't even know there was a Lions in AFL.
@@trent3727 yeah ... unfortunately they lost the grand final this year, by less than 1 goal 😕
@@footyfin like all the Brisbane teams haha
@@joelhungerford8388 too soon mate 😂 ... yeah that was a bad weekend for us Brisbane folks .... next year!
Ahhh that's fucked. ARU screw the pooch yet again. I don't think Mark is going to do so well in League. Yet again hard slog being an Aussie Rugby supporter. Excellent report as usual mate. Have a good one.
Absolutely insane that this time next year the second highest paid player in rugby union will be a league convert, if Rugby Australia shows they won’t pay the players who stick with Rugby Union their worth then it is no surprise that their wonder kids will sign contracts with one of the more popular sports in Australia, be it League or AFL.
If NRL keeps up its new policy of allowing converts to league to be exempt from the salary cap I would not be surprised to see more wallabies make the switch, especially now the floodgates have been opened.
Worst case scenario: union in Australia continues to slide (I’m open to realistic suggestions as to what might stop it) and they get hammered by the Lions (even more so than last time). Come 2026 there is so little home interest in the team or the World Cup that World Rugby pull the plug and shift it to New Zealand!
Stranger things have happened… (and all because Eddie likes poking bears 🐻😂🙈)
Could we see australia rugby go from tier 1 to tier 2 might be the first team in rugby to do that
Quite gutting to see as an outsider. He is such a talent, and maybe signals how things are in Aussie rugby. I hope he is getting a great salary, especially with how things are atm. Good for him, just sad for Union eh?
Well I hope this makes Sua'alii well worth it RA. Replacing someone that was ABSOLUTELY going to be a star in Union, with an overpaid non form league youngster that isn't even at the top of the league game. Well done McClennan/Jones ya numpties
Yeah man right now the trade 100% goes to the league boys.... Maybe we can look back in a few years to see how it worked out
@@TwoCentsRugby As an NRL fan with great potential, probably the highest touted youngester in years with he Roosters asking the NRL the let him have his debut before turning 18. He is still a great player don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't say he's quite lived up the hype, he hasn't set the NRL on fire or anything and asn't got any rep honours. But he is still only 20 year, many of the best players now hadn't even debuted when they were 20, if he stayed in league he would definitely become a great player for sure, maybe become a rep player in 3-4 years, hard to tell.
It could be very bad times ahead for Union in Australia and perhaps NZ. The NRL kicks off next year with 2 games in las vegas, the games will be shown live on US television, with talks of a US tv deal which could double or even tripple player salaries. There are talks of 4 new nrl teams with another in NZ.
Just like Rugby union here not enough Talent as NZ are a rugby culture. If you remember Australia has AFL, Rugby Union and League and Soccer alot to compete with. New Zealand have 5 Super rugby sides and a good domestic competition.
Nah Americans won’t get into League. NFL is their space and bits and pieces of rugby union cos it’s played a bit at college level.
@@Wolf-hh4rv don't need to into it. It just needs to be played on TV there
@@joelhungerford8388 just playing something on TV that no one hasn’t the slightest interest in will not change anything. Duh
@@caintindal1671 The NRL has a riduclous amount of NZ players, getting players for another NZ will not be a problem.
These discussions always fail to state the current state and core "issues":
* NRL is OUTSTANDING quality of rugby and growing in quality and revenue with new Dolphins team added and Warriors in NZ going really strong this year. Imho the comp needs teams from Papua New Guinea and Fiji to spread the quality of the tournie and grow League where it's challenge is next. But you can guarantee week-in-out when the comp is on awesome moments across the entire length of the pitch and a variety of plays: Attack, Defence, Kicks, Tackles, Set-Moves, Individual Skill and awesome match-ups that are competitive albeit lower half of table eg Tigers are perennial wooden spooners atm (sorry Tigers fans but you know it only too well).
* Given Super Rugby competition down-under has lost SA teams that competition imho has been GUTTED in quality with already declining stadium attendances even in New Zealand prior to that loss and even with the excellent addition of Fiji and Pacific Island team. The Super Rugby now Rugby Union Pacific or whatever it's called has 5 Aussie Union teams and NONE of them are exciting to watch: You've got 4 quality Kiwi teams and then the bravery and development of the 2 Pacific teams. It's a competition that's on a hiding to nothing imho.
Meanwhile Union is going through to many growing pains with the rules and officiation and too little dependable high quality spectacle. I seriously prefer the World Sevens Circuit to all current Union games where too much depends on penalty points and referee interpretation and rules that have gone hay-wire with cards and kicking-tennis and stoppages and watching TMO reviews interminably. You had 2 awesome QF games at the WC in France and then the other top end games were destroyed by arbitrary rulings imho.
A few players changing codes here or there is interesting but the deeper issues imho are as above. Now players changing as a trend then becomes indicative of the above larger forces and likewise the loss of playing numbers in Union at grassroots.
Tbh, Imho I wonder if there's enough market for 2 codes professionally? The situations is sort of the reverse in the NH with Super League in the North just tiny compared to the International Rugby Union eg Six Nations public interest and stadiums bursting with support. Maybe Union is bound to die out in Australia where competition in sports is so rife and populations relatively are a lot smaller?
As a chooks fan. I’m happy to see him come over an have a crack. I mean let’s face it no Ozzy super rugby team is winning anything going forward. The Waratahs won the last title an that was 2014. And as for the wallabies well … what more needs to be said really. The lions will towel them up no problem and I don’t see them making it past a quarter final in 2027. Sualili has had an average year in the NRL. After playing well in the WC last year an being locked out of the fullback spot thanks to Tedesco an Manu at the chooks. He’s more or less a glorified winger whose excellent under the high ball. As the cheese (Brandon Smith) said signing one winger/fullback isn’t gonna help you beat the All Blacks. One man isn’t going to change the trajectory of the wallabies or RA for that matter. Unions on its way out in OZ I feel and I don’t see it getting any better any time soon.
You are The Hockey Guy of rugby.
Do you reckon the plan is for him to win the RL World Cup in 2026, then there is a huge marketing campaign in Australia to build him up as going for 2 World Cups in two years if/when he returns to Union? If that did happen it would surely drum up some interest in Union.
If they had that kind of foresight I would honestly be amazed
Rugby Australia and marketing 😂😂😂
Has he said why he's going to league? If it was about the money surely he would've been better sticking to union and just going up north rather than going to league. Must've been quite unhappy.
I guess he knows who offerd him more money
The money’s quite similar between what the Roosters and the Waratahs were offering - the Roosters were simply offering a longer deal. Plus he wanted to stay in Australia as well
Well…he’s basically guaranteed a WC win with the Kangaroos, whereas the Wallabies and international success have been mostly divided since about the 01 lions tour. Obviously it was a long time ago, but I think the 99 rwc programme said recent success was remarkable given comoetition for talent from the nr, and afl. Plus ça change, etc. Time to put the Pacific Islands in the rugby championship, say I.
I love both games altho union is definitely my first choice. He will be ok but that relentless defence might be a thing.
Union in Oz and NZ isn't stuffed, but definitely in trouble. NRL could take over, but they're all a little insular. NRL has been pushing league in the islands for a while, and that non stop running contest will draw a lot of kids to the game, but their intent seems to simply feed their own clubs, not expand the comp. If they want to do that, then union in NZ in particular could be in trouble cos plenty of kiwi kids like league just fine. It doesn't get run down in nz like in other union centric countries
Yeah man the defense thing might be one of the biggest challenges for him - but he may well step up and improve that area of his game aye
Totally agree as a 67 year old Australian rugby league fan I have never had much interest in RL as an international game. At the moment we are getting a lot of political pressure on the Federal govt. from the Pacific Island nations to include a team in the NRL but personally other than the political mileage we dont have a lthat much to gain. I dont know why the NRL keep pushing to have more teams in NZ, in other states or are playing competition games in Las Vegas next season. For me the ultimate in rugby league is represent your state in the State of Origin followed by the NRL club games international rugby league runs a poor 3rd. The AFL doesnt need to have an international presence to be successful why does the NRL think that they do.,
@@user-bi8wp6wy3l They want to grow the game because if you're not growing then its easy to start sliding backwards and that can be hard to stop. No point adding more teams though if theyre just going to get belted year after year. That's what ruined super rugby.
@@user-bi8wp6wy3l see I'm a kiwi, so i reckon SoO has destroyed the pinnacle of league, that being international games. I actually want another NZ team too, because there's plenty of talent in NZ, just a lack of coaching. But it's an Aussie comp and unfortunately the warriors have been a basket case. It's very difficult to entice players away from surf n sun year round. Believe me, the South island is great, but it's not Bondi
@@ChrisBrown-or8ky as an Aussie I dont think that the Warriors are a basket case. I think that the guts they showed being isolated in Australia during the lockdown has made them everyones 2nd favourite team. In Newcastle we have the beaches lifestyle etc. but for some strange reason the big city clubs always seem to be able to dominate the player market. A bit strange when everyone is supposed to be working under the same salary cap rules..Love to see a team on the South island but I think they would have to import a lot of their players its a really strong Rugby culture diown there especially with the Crusaders.
Good on the Roosters 🐓 for signing him. He'll do well under their coaching.
Everyone showing concern for Australia rugby union, nobody batted an eyelid when Wales lost an whole team to rugby league early 90s we muddled through and got on with it.
The biggest loss of the lot was Jonathan Davies, I’m convinced he would have become the best player in the world if he’d stuck with union.
@@alunjprice 👍Bateman, J. Griffiths, Devereux, moriaty, and a host more.
Hoping to go to Lions tour from here in Ireland with my son. Gonna be awesome but looking more and more like its gonna be a very one sided contest.
If you do come you should try and get yourself tickets to a state of origin league game. They play during the same time of the year as the lions tour
I recon the B&I fans will outnumber the Aussies on this tour
aussie rugby union (ARU) has been poaching rugby league players for many years.
i guess the NRL is waking up.....
they can RECIPROCATE and POACH players from rugby union.
the ARU should be careful as the NRLs cofferes are much larger than the ARUs...!
as you said mark, the NRL has been talking about tinkering with their clubs salary caps and letting each club poach a rugby union player.
the ARU needs the best rugby players it has playing for it in the next 4 years with the lions tour and world cup coming up.
Who would want to coach the Wallabies right now? Coaching Australia is where your coaching career goes to die. Its career suicide.
Good luck to him that is all I can say doing what is right for him that is the mainthing. It will take time for ARU to recover. We spent 5 million on the Joseph big mistake really to waste on one player when you may have kept 5 - 7 players in rugby union for that.
Eddies Legacy just keeps on giving.
Come on mate how is any of this eddies fault
Silly boy
Is there any chance someone can find a way to join the two codes? It's happened before in history.
To many egos on both sides !
I don’t believe we should join them but I do think we should come under the same umbrella,
Rugby 15s
Rugby league 13s
Rugby 7s
Would be ideal for governance atleast at international level .
I’m a RL fan by the way
Seems to be a code war in Australia and league is winning, easily. This switch is just another example of that.
Yeah there have been a lot of guys rumoured to go for ages - All Blacks like Shaun Stevenson, TJ Perenara were linked in the past - this time though it actually turned out to be true
McLennan and Eddie deserve every bit of disdain that comes their way and then some. Going back to a formula from 2003 that didn’t work then, why would it work now. Ridiculous. Australian rugby can’t even do the bare basics like market it’s brand and players. It amazes me that a game that is (at least perceived to be) so connected to ad execs and banker types can be so appallingly shit with money and advertising.
Not a loss. He was way too weak in any case.
Mark N was fun to watch- he has to do what is best for him.
Don't blame him. If he can handle the physicality, there's a lot more money in it. Fair play Mark.
No there isn't. What a foolish comment. Beauden Barrett is getting two million a season. Why do you think Sonny Bill switched codes.
@@JaemanEdwards call me a fool? This guy ain't Sonny Bill or Beauden Barrett, not even close. Rugby players get paid what they are worth, and this guy hasn't achieved anywhere close to what they have - they command those salaries because they are legends. Barrett was IRB player of the year 3 times.
Wallabies might make $10k a match ( although recently that was cut) , NRL players make $300k a year. Do some maths before you start insulting people.
@@RRTNZ What a load of crap. Your average player does not make 300 thousand a year. Why do you think rugby players no longer switch to rugby league. The money is all in rugby foolish man. And this man was new to international rugby, so had the potential to possibly go on. He should do well as rugby players are so much more skilled than rugby league players, who are one trick ponies. There's a reason league is a minor world sport.
@@JaemanEdwards Google is free and easy to use. Give it a try, about NRL vs Rugby salaries in Australia. While you're at it, try googling how to talk to other people on the Internet like an adult, I bet even you can learn that, if you put your mind to it.
Very concerned for the Wallabies, world rugby needs a strong Aussie union side.
A really good attacking player with plenty of potential.
Probably need a better defending winger given the lockstep systematic nature of the modern game (clinical, strong defence wins games)
My vote is Andy Muirhead or Filipo Daugunu for that right wing spot next year.
Rugby Union is dead in Aus. Lots of hidden supporters... but the average joe has no idea about rugby union. I did a test at my work and asked anyone under 25 who the Wallabies and hardly anyone knew and if they were not born here 100% didnt. But 90% knew the All Blacks... might not know they played rugby union but still knew of them... so maybe the Wallabies brand is even more dead than the sport.
Big loss but its not the end of the world for Australia. Sua'alii is basically Nawaqanitasi on steroids. If he transitions well to union, he will easily be one of the best outside backs in the world.
My opinion is Sua'alii is the better player between the two. Every club in the NRL would take him. With Mark, Australia Rugby only gave him a 1 year deal so they don't look keen.
I'd be surprised if Sua'alii actually goes to Union. The sport is dead in Australia and they can't afford him.
People outside OZ and NZ probably don't realise how big NRL is over here. It's second most popular sport, whereas Union is probably 5th most popular at best.
Shoulda played for the sevens at the Olympics before he left.
Yep, there is zero pride to wear the jersey. No Aussie cares about the BIL and Rugby World Cup when they can actually get paid and play in front of a crowd.
Yeah typical no heart Australian
Union really is dead in Australia
Sad to see such a talent leave rhe game because of an incompetent union
I’m a leaguie, but don’t sleep on my man sualii
Mark is superstar for Aussie Union but might not even be the best winger at the Roosters if Dom Young settles in well next season. I can understand why he would do it though, he will be involved in more of the play than in Union and he money is good in the NRL. But he will have to be amazing to get a place in an Origin or Australia team given the depth there is.
It could still work out well for Union as Suaalii could potentially play wing, centre or full back and is younger than Mark so has time to find his feet.
Tupou's getting old and off contract for next season, Nawaqanitawase will definitely, he won't shoot the lights out but he should be decent and build on it after a couple of years
Average salary for NRL is more than double Super rugby. Playing more rugby closer to home in a better competition… no brainer really
Also his game definitely lends itself to league over union.
High balls all day ✅
Confrontational winger ✅
Athletic finisher ✅
Power game ✅
Give Marky Mark a taste of the Origin arena. He will never return to Union after that.
Let him go.
There will be other players who will come through the ranks... The sport in Australia may not be as popular as ARL, NRL or other sports, but it doesn't mean that Australia doesn't have talent to fill the slots.
anddddd we lose our best player. Sad thing is, things will probably keep getting worse somehow ahah
A another bitter blow for the wallbies
Big loss for the Wobblies and the Tahs. ARU should have re-signed or extended him to a longer term when they had the chance. Can't blame him for leaving now. Australian Rugby is a bit of a dumpster file at the moment and until the administrators get their act together it's not going to get any better. ARL and AFL are doing a much better job of running their codes at the moment. ARU is a long way from the days when John O'Neill was running it until they forced him out the door.
Good on him. I bet he goes good in the NRL but he's no Kurt-Lee Arendse that's for sure.
Owen farrell is next to Wigan
In reality if the Wallabies had a better pool of talent this would have gone unoticed, Marky mark is a good player but he ain't Campese good and Suali will surprise a few people hes got talent no doubt about it...
Never heard of him tbh. 🤔 And going to the coked up Shidoni City. Good luck buddy.
I'm a union guy who watches a lot of League here in Oz....and Sua'alii is a better prospect than Marky Mark...bigger, faster, better under a high ball. He was so physically gifted that the NRL gave special dispensation to play at that level while he was still 17...and NRL defenses take no prisoners and you get found out easily if you're not up to it. Remember also, he was a prized Aus union schoolboy prodigy and there was a big stink when League poached him. So, it's not like he's unfamiliar with the game (not sure if Mark N has ever played League?). Don't get me wrong, he won't turn the Wallabies into world-beaters on his own...but he will be a major strike weapon.'
Yeah - he'll get the ball about 2-4 times a game 😂
Mark played rugby league until he was 14, then switched to union
@@jasonh7085 Good back info
Well easier to win a world title when only really 3 countries realistically compete to win, oh snap that could be Union as well
Lolol
In union it's 2 countries now
@@footyfinreally? Between Ireland, France, SA and NZ you have four teams that can realistically win a RWC. Throw in England, Scotland and Argentina that can on their day beat any of the top 4. One can still hope for Wales to turn their ship around. So even if Aus is beyond saving, Union isn't in too bad a place.
@@rothnieoosthuizen3728 that all sounds reasonable in theory my friend ... but the reality is that it's all about SA and NZ nowadays. France and Ireland had their best ever chances this year but unfortunately they both choked, again (with all due respect!).
To adopt your perspective - Tonga or Samoa or possibly Fiji could win a rugby league World cup ... but they surely won't, at least not in the foreseeable future. sad but true.
@@footyfin I heavily doubt this, the only reason SA and NZ got to the final and France and Ireland didn't was literally just down to the strategy and coaching in the Quarterfinals, and we saw from Englands performance in the Semi's and Samoas in the last round of the pool stages that on any given day, an upset could occur. SA; NZ; Ireland and France are on parr. The rest of the aforementioned teams are capable of beating them, just not consistently 3/10 or less games at a time. By the rest, I'd put England; Scotland; Wales and Fiji in that challenger catergory. They might not win a world cup, but they could upset one of the top 4 at q given time
And match commentators the world over put down their pronunciation guides and sigh with relief
Ozzies got out scrummed by the Fijians now they wanna switch codes 😂😂💀
Best back for aussie big blow
Literally more eggs on the faces of the RA bozos even with McClown-nen out of the picture, Waugh has his hands full fixing AU rugby after all that mess left behind by his predecessor from sacking Rennie to now Marky Mark saying "see ya, I'm off to the NRL."
Yeah man it's a proper cluster isn't it....
League is for simpletons that cant understand the rules of real rugby.
Leage to me is just boring.
That's true. Jason Robinson never took to Union at all.
Meh. I love both games. Check out the NRL final. Incredible match
League to my untrained eye doesn't seem to have the same variety as union. But then again I watch ice hockey and at a glance those teams all look the same too - but the more I watched the more differences I picked up on
Ireland is full of immigrants
OH MY LIFE... My EYE'S HURT when i saw that EWW JERSEY. Come on, man!!!
Hardly surprising given that joke of a world cup. NRL stocks went up in NZ & Aussie after that farce. Would love to ditch Union and make the AB's a Rugby league team. The ball is in play for more than half the game😅
Rugby Union kind of needs Australia to be strong so its a pity that Jones has set them back a few years in their attempts to get back to the top table with his pathetic WC performance. But... maybe they deserve where they are. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would have seen that EJ was just in it for himself and didn't give a $hit about Australian Rugby. He screwed up English Rugby and the Aussies were too dumb to see how useless he is. However, Rugby needs a strong England and Australia. So, I hope that they manage to get it back on track. England needs some financial stability on the club scene and Australia just needs to pick their best players. This thing of planning for the Lions Tour in 2025 is a joke, like Jones, its a joke. You should go out to win every game with your best team not with the team that you think will win in two years time. I hope Jones enjoys his retirement, in the knowledge that he has done so much damage to Rugby.
Yeah man Lions Tour and Rugby World Cup in the next 4 years - they'll never have a windfall like this again. They need to get things together asap to make the most of things financially and with the increased exposure the game will get
I don't see how Australia could realistically win any of the matches unfortunately. I'm afraid their participation in this Lions Tour will devalue the next one.
Oh this is a shame for rugby, I liked him 😕
with so much talent in the Ozzy NRL I thought they'd be amazing... they still pretty sh*t to so i dont understand
Alarm are continuing to ring RA. Phil Waugh must think he has Tinnitus. 😂
More coming over league
Aussie rugby is in dire, dire straits. Feel free to melt down that Bledisloe Cup and make something else cos we ain't winning that thing back ever again.
If it wasn’t for Bernard Foley time wasting last year, there was a decent chance we could have won the Bledisloe in 2022
not good
Sigh more depressing news! Sooner rugby season starts the better to get this crap year behind us 🙄
It is what it is rugby needs to focus on pathways stop trying to compete with league in a popularity contest there is more than enough talent for both sports to survive Australian rugby has never had a quality problem they have a depth,age and coaching problem get rid of the hopeless Rebels and Force focus on the Reds,Waratahs and Brumbies funnel all talent into those 3 teams keep them strong then they keep the Wallabies strong and bam pro rugby in Aus is fixed just like that align high performance ignore all that other shit power hungry shit these the league vs Union shit is garbage the playing pool is large enough Aus have more pro union players then Ireland,Wales and Scotland yet lose to them and it aint cause you do not have good players
I don’t think we need to cut any teams from Super Rugby, but there is an issue with the pathways and coaching standards. Not sure what can be done about the coaching standards, but Rugby Australia needs to start looking beyond elite private schools (and Randwick) for talent. That’s actually one of the good things the Rebels and Force have been doing, they’ve both worked on introducing union into sports programs in public schools, making it much more accessible to more people
Only decent player leaves. Might aswell cancel union in aus
It's almost like Union has been dying in Aus for the past 20 years or something. No one cares about Union in Australia and it's been dying a slow death since 2000. Australia would be better off dropping Union completely.
People keep saying it's dying but it's been dying a bloody long time if that's the case. It's certainly got issues with how they run things aye - seems to be relegated to a niche spot at the moment
Here in Australia union is a little boutique sport played by current and former private school kids. It has no chance of competing with NRL, AFL or even football (soccer). It probably doesn't even compete well against basketball.
Rugby is fast becoming a dying sport in Australia snd needs a miracle to even stay relevent dont be surprised if plenty of others defect. Rugby picked a fight with the NRL and they have got one.....NRL clubs have a salary cap supposedly to even out the competition between the clubs if the richer clubs ever unleashed their true spending potential rugby in Australia would be decimated.
Good point , if some of the NRL clubs were allowed to spend like a EPL club we would see crazy money ,
There would be 5-10 nrl clubs that have revenues of 100million or more .
To put that in perspective ARU revenue was around 120-130 million last year .
He’s clearly sacrificing the lions tour for money and still trying to make the World Cup. Greedy in my opinion. He’s gone to rugby Australia and asked for more money as he was one of their better players and that suu’ali or whatever from league is going to be paid a tonne, and rugby Australia have said no, which is kind of smart because marks good but he’s not world class, he’s not a will Jordan or Kobe and never will be. But clearly RA have compromised and let him go have his money on the hope or promise he returns in 2027. If they were really as confident in the wingers coming through as they say they’d never let him play for the wallabies again. So RA, the Roosters and Mark’s agents have agreed this 2 year deal, however if he has any good success I don’t think he’ll come back. But I think he’ll be a flop and come back because players who switch codes flop more often than not. And then once he comes back he might not even make the World Cup squad. Wasting his career and a golden 4 years of Aussie rugby for money. Pathetic from nawaqanitawase in my opinion. Should never be allowed back
Yeah SBW used to get a bit of grief here for the flip flopping - especially when coming back to union and taking the place of the fella who had been playing well while he was away
@@TwoCentsRugbyI remember SBW in league and the 2013 World Cup final didn’t end well for him. The Kangaroos made him look like a complete novice, and he got picked off twice, both of which nearly resulted in a try, one which did. Flip floppers sometimes get exposed at the highest level is what I mean.
Everybody seems to have forgotten Aus had 2 Rugby World Cup trophies before the mighty New Zealand. They'll bounce back.
This kind of “she’ll be right” attitude is why we haven’t bounced back
Mate that was in the 90s and so much has changed. I'd love to see Aussie rugby strong again but honestly, go to a Sydney club game and the standard is very ordinary, that flows through into Super. NRL is a much better product there, Mark won't be the last to switch.
NRL is boring.