LeagueNews.co | Jess Malloy
Sydney Roosters star Mark Nawaqanitawase's future has been confirmed, with plans to join a Japanese rugby union club.
As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Nawaqanitawase is set to leave the NRL at the conclusion of the 2026 season after finalizing a lucrative two-year contract with a Division One team in Japan, believed to be worth over $1 million per year.
The dual-code international will finish his current commitments with the Sydney Roosters before transitioning abroad in anticipation of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, which will be held in Australia.
Even though he attracted significant interest from French clubs, Japan emerged as the most appealing option for Nawaqanitawase, whose profile has skyrocketed following a standout NRL season where he became the leading try-scorer of the competition.
For the Roosters, there's a silver lining: they have left open the possibility for Nawaqanitawase to return once his overseas adventure concludes, thus keeping the chance alive for him to continue his NRL career after 2028.
The 24-year-old has long harbored ambitions of testing himself in rugby union after previously spending four years with the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby before switching codes. He has also played 11 times for the Wallabies and remains eligible to represent Italy or Fiji on the international stage.
Rugby Australia's eligibility criteria are not expected to hinder him, with high-performance director Peter Horne recently calling the contentious Giteau Law "kind of redundant," allowing players based overseas to be selected under more flexible criteria.