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Kiss confident Nawaqanitawase will return to Wallabies; player says decision next year

Wallabies coach Les Kiss says he is confident winger Mark Nawaqanitawase will return to Australia after two years in rugby league. Nawaqanitawase says he will decide on his international future next year, with Fiji and Italy also options.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: CNA
Image: ABC News (Australia)

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Centre · 1Australia coach Les Kiss said he is confident Mark Nawaqanitawase will return to the Wallabies after a two-year stint in rugby league, but warned the winger would have to earn his place. Mixed · 2Nawaqanitawase, 26, finished with the Sydney Roosters after helping them win the NRL title earlier this month, and is returning to rugby union on a two-year deal with Japan's Saitama Wild Knights. Left · 1ABC News reported the Japan deal as worth about $3 million over two years, under former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.

Centre · 1The player's agent, Milan Volavola-Shankar, said on Tuesday there was no guarantee Nawaqanitawase would play for the Wallabies again, because the winger would also qualify for Fiji or Italy from midway through next year. Left · 1ABC News said the manager suggested Fiji, through the player's father's heritage, or Italy, through a grandmother. Left · 1Nawaqanitawase posted on Instagram that they would "weigh up my options and make a decision next year on my international future".

Centre · 1Kiss accepted Nawaqanitawase would not be available for November's Nations Championship games in Europe, but expects them back in Australian colours before next year's home World Cup. Left · 1Kiss said there was no doubt the player wants to be back in the game for the Wallabies, adding that he would not speak on the player's behalf but "we know where he wants to play". Centre · 1Kiss, himself a former rugby league winger, said the player would need time to relearn aspects of union such as the aerial game and defence, and was not certain to walk straight into the side: "Everyone will earn their way."

Left · 1Wallabies captain Harry Wilson, who watched the Kangaroos' Rugby League World Cup win over New Zealand with Nawaqanitawase, said "I don't have to convince him". Mixed · 2Nawaqanitawase made 11 Tests for Australia in 2022-23 before moving to the NRL; ABC News said that under World Rugby laws, switching to another nation would bar a return to the Wallabies.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Frames the story as uncertainty and competition for the player's allegiance, led by the player's own words.
Emphasis
The three-nation choice, World Rugby switching rules and the player's Instagram post.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives less of Kiss's comments on needing to earn a spot and relearn union.
Charged language
“tug-of-war”“cross-code super talent”“turning his back on Australia”
For example
“Mark Nawaqanitawase is refusing to rule out turning his back on Australia for next year's home Rugby World Cup as a three-nation tug-of-war for the cross-code super talent escalates.” — ABC News (Australia)

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Coach-led report on Kiss's confidence in the winger's return, with a caution that a place must be earned.
Emphasis
Kiss's quotes about readjusting to union and earning selection.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not include the player's Instagram statement that the decision comes next year.
For example
“Kiss said he accepted that Nawaqanitawase would not be available for November's Nations Championship games in Europe” — CNA

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

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