Nawaqanitawase achieves 89-year first in Roosters rout
Darren Walton |
Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters admits it may be impossible to ignore Mark Nawaqanitawase’s Test claims after the code-hopping sensation secured the Sydney Roosters’ place in the 2025 NRL finals.
A spectacular Nawaqanitawase hat-trick, a week after the former Wallabies winger collected four against the mighty Melbourne Storm, helped the Roosters to a decisive 36-6 victory in their much-hyped derby with South Sydney on Friday night.
With inspirational skipper Cameron Murray making a successful comeback from a torn Achilles tendon, the Rabbitohs were scheming to scupper their arch-rivals’ finals hopes.
Instead, Nawaqanitawase’s treble and another masterclass from Dally M favourite James Tedesco ensured the Roosters can start preparing for a sudden-death finals battle with either the Warriors or Cronulla.
After officially extinguishing the finals hopes of Manly and the Dolphins, Trent Robinson’s Tricolours are guaranteed to finish seventh or eighth.
The Roosters will play either the Warriors or Cronulla in their knockout final but won’t know for certain who they face until after the fifth-placed Sharks face Canterbury on Saturday night.
But, as Walters and dual premiership-winning club hero Cooper Cronk say, the Roosters have Nawaqanitawase largely to thank for the side’s incredible turnaround from bottom-eight also-rans midway through the season.
“Look, he’s good,” Walters said after the Roosters clinched their finals berth.
“Look at his aerial skills. That flick pass … but the one thing I love about Mark is just the pure athleticism. He has got skills that not too many other players have.
“Yeah, he’s a really excitement machine and just his size as well.
“He’d be 105, 106 kilos. Probably a little bit heavier and so he carries back at yardage.”
“I mean, we saw all the flashy stuff from him but he carries back. When you need a good, strong carry from an outside back, he’s there.
“He’s putting his hand up, so his work ethic’s good.”
Cronk agrees Nawaqanitawase and fellow prolific winger Daniel Tupou “could be the difference” in the finals.
“Yeah, just getting the ball in the right spot,” Cronk said.
“At the back end of a set, with those two threats, the way that the game is, you can see that the opposition defending wingers are nervous of what to do.
“‘Do I jump up? Do I sit and wait?’
“And if you’re a half that gets the ball on the try line or in the end goal, you can’t just sit and wait.
“So I think that might be a key play for those teams in the back end of the year.”
As well as extending his lead atop the NRL’s 2025 try-scorers’ charts with his 21st and 22nd four-pointers, Nawaqanitawase also became the first Roosters player since rugby league Immortal Dave Brown in 1936 to bag seven doubles in a single season.
But the superstar former Wallaby wasn’t done yet.
He crossed in the 52nd minute to complete his dazzling hat-trick, after Connor Watson and Tupou had all but clinched the Roosters’ victory.
AAP
