Sydney Roosters star recruit Mark Nawaqanitawase has been training with the club for less than a week following his commitments at the Paris Olympic Games, but it hasn't stopped Trent Robinson and his staff from naming him for a NSW Cup debut this weekend.
Named at wing for Saturday afternoon's clash against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Wentworth Park, the former rugby union player, who was part of Australia's Sevens' fourth-place effort in Paris, is now training with the Roosters after his contract was registered by the NRL on the final day for clubs to complete their squads this season.
Robinson had already previously hinted at the fact Nawaqanitawase wouldn't make his NRL debut this year, and that is a belief that the coach still has, telling the media on Thursday that the club want him to โget a feel of the game' in reserve grade.
โFor this year, we wanted him to go and play reserve grade and get the feel of the game,โ Robinson said.
โPhysically (we wanted to) make sure he was in the right state to play, and he is. Preparing for the sevens for the Olympics, he's in good physical shape. It was just important to get him out there and start learning through playing.
โJust experience, (there are) no expectations from a performance point of view, it's more getting out there and getting a feel.
โWe've had some really good training sessions already. He's a learner, so picking up things day on day has been really good but there's no expectation about the performance, it's all about experience, get a feel for how six tackles work, the 10 metres, the defensive decision-making and all those things.
โHe knows the game. He hasn't been in it for a week. Since he signed, I can imagine, he's been dreaming about this for a long period of time which is part of the preparation as well.โ
The Roosters are out of contention for the NSW Cup finals, but have a host of talents in the side who will also be pushing for minutes in the top grade next year, including centre Ethan King and winger Tyreece Tait.
What is somewhat unclear is exactly where Nawaqanitawase will line up for the Roosters in 2025.
The club are losing a number of talents at the end of this season, among them Joseph Manu and Joseph Suaalii - the club's two starting centres - who are both heading the other way to rugby union.
That could leave the Roosters needing to train Nawaqanitawase in the centres given Daniel Tupou recently re-signed in a major boost for the club, while former Newcastle winger and English international Dominic Young is also still contracted.
A shift into the centres wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility for Nawaqanitawase, although he'd have to fight to get ahead of the likes of King and Michael Jennings, as well as the injury-prone Billy Smith, who would all lay claim to the vacant spots.
Robinson hasn't made comment on what position Nawaqanitawase will play in the long-term for the tri-colours who, at NRL level, are well on track to finish the regular season in the top four.
