NRL Grand Final winner Nawaqanitawase returns to rugby union with World Cup ambitions

Mark Nawaqanitawase is returning to rugby union with Japan’s Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights after a remarkable NRL career that culminated in a Grand Final winners’ medal with the Sydney Roosters earlier this month.

The 26-year-old wing finished the 2025 NRL season as the competition’s top try-scorer and was named in the Dally M Team of the Year, capping a stint in league that also included a State of Origin series win with the NSW Blues and a three-nil series sweep of England with the Australian Kangaroos. His signing with the Wild Knights was confirmed on February 9.

Despite the success, Nawaqanitawase says unfinished business in the fifteen-man game is driving his return. “I’ve had a short time in union that I still feel like I have a lot more to give, a lot more to prove,” he told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast. “There’s a Rugby World Cup next year, I’m moving to Japan which is a cool thing. There’s a whole bunch of things that I feel like I’ve still got time to do. The main one, like I said, I’ve still got a lot to prove.”

Nawaqanitawase made his Wallabies debut in November 2022 and quickly made an impression, scoring two second-half tries in a 39-34 comeback win over Wales in Cardiff. He went on to appear at the 2023 Rugby World Cup under Eddie Jones, touching down twice in four matches, before switching to sevens — including a trip to the Paris Olympics with the Australian Men’s Sevens side — and then to league.

He has not represented the Wallabies since that World Cup campaign, but the prospect of a home tournament in Australia in 2027 is clearly a motivating factor. “Playing for the Wallabies was a massive honour. I grew up watching them and then to be able to do it, it was amazing,” he said. “Obviously it didn’t go quite well in some of the things we did but I’ll never have a regret. I loved every moment of it.”

The move to Japan’s Rugby League One — home to some of the world’s best players — gives Nawaqanitawase a platform to rebuild his union credentials and force his way back into Wallabies contention. Whether his Test eligibility lies with Australia in union or league will be a question that grows louder as the World Cup approaches.