NRL: Why Cameron Ciraldo must pick up the phone and call Jarome Luai | Weekend Read

Cameron Ciraldo’s respect for Penrith is admirable, but his loyalty is to the Bulldogs now and he should pick up the phone and call Jarome Luai, writes Brent Read.

Australia's right wing Mark Nawaqanitawase (C) is tackled by Georgia's blindside flanker Tornike Jalagonia (C) during the France 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool C match between Australia and Georgia at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, on September 9, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Jarome Luai strolled back into training this week and it was like he never left. Smiling, laughing, cracking jokes. Luai was the coolest bloke in the building at a time when pressure is mounting to make a call on his future.

Everyone wants an answer. The Wests Tigers are desperate for a big kill and Luai would solve many of their problems.

Penrith need to know so they can move to shore up the futures of Taylan May, Sunia Turuva and Mitch Kenny.

Canterbury want to know whether Luai will seriously contemplate leaving before they weigh in with an offer, although you suspect it is only a matter of time before Phil Gould and Cameron Ciraldo come to the party.

Jarome Luai was nice and relax at his first day back at Panthers’ training.

They desperately need a half – particularly if they move Matt Burton to the centres – and quality playmakers are in short supply. Few are coming through the ranks which makes Luai all the more valuable.

So while Ciraldo insists he won’t be doing anything until he gets a phone call from Luai – his respect for Penrith is admirable – his loyalty is to the Bulldogs now and Luai would make them a better team.

He owes it to Canterbury fans to make a play for Luai. Importantly, he owes it to himself as well. The Bulldogs were awful this season and pressure will mount on Ciraldo if he can’t turn it around.

He needs a talisman – a player who can be his eyes and ears on the field. He needs a player who can take charge and own the team.

Rather than waiting for a phone call, Ciraldo should be making one.

WHY NAWAQANITAWASE’S BIGGEST NRL TEST COULD BE A FATAL FLAW

Mark Nawaqanitawase looks like a talent. Sat down and watched a couple of YouTube videos of him on Thursday night playing for the Wallabies and the Waratahs. Most rugby I have watched in years.

‘Marky Mark, Australia’s new superstar’ was the screaming headline under one of the packages. Talk about promising the world. Thankfully, Nawaqanitawase didn’t deliver an atlas.

Gees, the kid looked sharp. Big, fast with a nose for the try line. Just what you want in a footballer, particularly one who has been bought to play in the outside backs.

Highlights packages can be deceiving of course because they tend to overlook the ugly side of the game. For starters, I still haven’t worked out whether Nawaqanitawase can tackle.

Mark Nawaqanitawase can find the line, but can he take the physical demands of NRL? Picture: Franck Fife/AFP

Some smart judges who I respect have privately suggested that it’s an area of the game where he has been deficient at times and while you might be able to get away with it in rugby union, you’ll get exposed pretty quickly in the NRL.

The good news is that tackle technique can be addressed and improved. Roosters coach Trent Robinson is one of the best in the business. No doubt, if there is a flaw there, he’ll sort it out.

The other query is whether Nawaqanitawase will embrace the physical demands required of a rugby league winger, if that ends up being his position. Playing on the wing in the NRL can be a brutal and thankless task.

Running the ball on tackle two off your own try line, tearing into the teeth of an opposition defensive line marshalled by a handful of 100-plus kilogram forwards just itching to claim your scalp.

It doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun but the good wingers in the modern game relish the contact. Look at the man Nawaqanitawase has been bought to help replace, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.

The first thing you noticed about Suaalii when he made his debut as a 17-year-old was that he didn’t shirk contact. If anything, he went looking for it. The harder he was hit, the harder he ran.

So we need to take a closer look before we’re convinced that Nawaqanitawase is going to be a raging success in rugby league. Clearly, the Roosters are of the belief that he can cut it and despite being a rugby union star, he does have some rugby league pedigree.

🇦🇺 What rugby league fans can expect from Wallabies and Waratahs wing Mark Nawaqanitawase when he joins the Sydney Roosters in 2025. pic.twitter.com/nZBIec6i15

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) December 7, 2023

He played the game as a teenager and one of his rugby union teammates at high school was Wests Tigers star Adam Doueihi. So rugby league is not foreign to him, but it’s been a while between drinks and he will have to reacquaint himself with the game.

It may take a while, it may happen overnight. He may be an instant success or he may languish in lower grades until he finds his feet. Regardless, Nawaqanitawase is largely a risk-free signing.

The Roosters have apparently paid $450,000 a year for Nawaqanitawase but that is merely a drop in the ocean for rugby league clubs these days. Little more than the average wage.

Nawaqanitawase hasn’t been paid a king’s ransom so he doesn’t need to be the second coming of Wendell Sailor to justify the outlay. He doesn’t even need to be Suaalii, who was earning that sort of money when he was still a teenager.

He just needs to be a solid first grader and he certainly has the tools to be that.

Anything beyond is a bonus. So in terms of risk and reward, he is medium risk with the potential for massive reward.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson will be able to iron out any flaws. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

As for the implications of his signing, I am not sure it is as significant as many have suggested. Nawaqanitawase has become part of a wider story that has simmered all year.

His signing has been hailed as a strike back, savaging rugby union’s stocks while the code is in crisis. Suaalii’s decision to defect at the end of next season came at the height of the Hamish McLennan’s reign and there was a sense that rugby union was ready to have a go.

Instead, the code has flailed and Nawaqanitawase has been held up as the latest example of rugby union’s waning fortunes. The code is a red-hot mess and the Roosters have plucked one of their more promising talents.

Don’t, however, expect the trickle to become a flood. The best rugby union players are still paid a fortune and only the very elite have the ability to crack it in the NRL.

Rugby league may continue to pick the eyes out of teenage talents who are contemplating their futures but big names will be few and far between. They simply aren’t worth the investment.

Marky Mark may be the exception rather than the rule.

Originally published as NRL: Why Cameron Ciraldo must pick up the phone and call Jarome Luai | Weekend Read