Mark Nawaqanitawase arrived at the Roosters after the Paris 2024 Olympics and made an immediate impact, scoring a try in his round 27 debut and becoming one of the best wingers in the game within two years. But the transition from rugby union to league was mentally brutal: during his first off-season, NRL legend Andrew Johns recalled that Nawaqanitawase confessed he was questioning whether he could continue. "I don't think I can get through it," he told Johns, describing days spent training in the morning before collapsing on the lounge, unable to move. "We train in the morning, and if we have time off I just go home and lay on the lounge. I can't move off the lounge."
By his second year, Nawaqanitawase had adapted completely. When Johns saw him again, the star had adjusted to league's different fitness demands and cemented himself as a genuine superstar. Johns noted the transformation: "my body is used to it now," Nawaqanitawase told him.
Nawaqanitawase's departure marks a significant loss for the Roosters and the NRL. His return to rugby union comes with an eye on representing the Wallabies at the home Rugby World Cup next year. Interestingly, his mother Fiona Tovehi initially "tormented" her son about his move to league, but has now changed her stance and does not want him to leave the NRL.