With a chip and chase near miss to rival Waratahs young gun Max Jorgensen, Mark Nawaqanitawase continued to show exactly why the Roosters lured him from rugby union.
And with a pair of not-so-near missed tackles defending his try line against the Warriors, the cross-code convert’s steepest learning curve was still plain to see.
Nawaqanitawase’s rare skills with the ball have been a notable point of difference for the Roosters after, remember, just four games in the NRL.
Along with the renowned aerial abilities that delivered a memorable try on debut against South Sydney last year, Nawaqanitawase’s offloading after poking his nose through the line has been a hallmark of his rugby upbringing, where post-contact ball-playing takes priority over rugby league’s wrestle.
The former Wallabies flyer on Monday grinned ruefully about bobbling his attempt to regather a chip kick in Friday’s 14-6 loss to the Warriors.
Nawaqanitawase was in the Allianz Stadium stands 24 hours later when Jorgensen, the rugby prodigy the Roosters chased and missed last year, pulled out his own kick try assist in a drought-breaking win over the Brumbies on Saturday night.
“Fijian background who played sevens rugby. Expect a chip and chase,” was teammate Angus Crichton’s neat summation of Nawaqanitawase’s attacking effort.
“The longer we see him in the game the better he’s going to get.”
Nawaqanitawase, naturally, defers to the lessons he’s still learning in the 13-man game. Chiefly, the two tries scored by opposite number Ali Leiataua down his left-centre channel.
“I’ve had to make a lot of changes in terms of decision making,” Nawaqanitawase, 24, said of adjusting to rugby league defence.
“Having a lot of plays run on the inside man and myself with players switching [lines], doing what they can to fool us, I’m just trying to be comfortable and as confident as I can in reading whatever the opposition has.
“That’s the biggest change. It happens quite a bit. I’ve had a few [defensive efforts] in the game where I could’ve done better. I’ve had a few good ones. But I am new and teams will want to test me out.”
Nawaqanitawase expects to be in the crosshairs again on Friday night against the Titans. One of the NRL’s quickest back lines will be sending Philip Sami, Jojo Fifita and enigmatic $1 million man David Fifita his way.
Mark Nawaqanitawase’s ability to offload in traffic has been a highlight of his first few games in the NRL.Credit: Getty Images
The Roosters recruit feels for fellow rugby convert and former Wallabies teammate Carter Gordon, whose progress at the Gold Coast has been stalled by a cerebrospinal fluid leak.
Gordon is on the mend from the seemingly innocuous training bump that left him bedridden, suffering back spasms and severe headaches, but will be sidelined for several months yet.
The Roosters are likely to welcome back a few of their own from unusual problems: star front-rower Lindsay Collins returns from illness, while Nat Butcher is expected to join him after being hospitalised by what teammates described as an infection.
Nawaqanitawase, meanwhile, has traded codes with the Wallabies’ $1.5 million man Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to partner veteran Daniel Tupou on the Roosters’ left edge.
Crichton believes he can become a genuine strike weapon in attack. And Nawaqanitawase grins when his philosophy steers into the well-worn Laurie Daley adage that “rugby league is a simple game played by simple people.”
“Not just league [that] is simple, life is simple,” Nawaqanitawase said.
“Focus on what’s important and you’ll be right. Defend as well as I can and carry the ball as well as I can. As long as I do those two things, everything else will take care of itself.
“If I worry about too much then I’ll go crazy out there.”
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