Reds rookie Izaia Perese’s move to the Broncos means Wallabies winger Naivalu is moving north

Queensland Reds young gun Izaia Perese has decided to defect to the NRL and join the Broncos, leading a Wallabies winger to make a move from Melbourne to Brisbane.

The shock defection of classy Wallabies prospect Izaia Perese to the Brisbane Broncos has been combatted at the Queensland Reds by the simultaneous signing of Test flyer Sefa Naivalu.

Perese, 21, went to the same Wavell State High School as Queensland’s State of Origin star Greg Inglis, played junior rugby league and has always harboured desires to test himself in the NRL.

The paperwork was finalised on Monday to enable Perese to wriggle out of the final year of his Reds contract because of creative steps to fill the void he would otherwise have left on the wing.

Izaia Perese is set to leave the Queensland Reds and join the Brisbane Broncos. Picture: Peter Wallis

With the help of Rugby Australia, the Reds have brokered a deal for 10-Test Wallaby Naivalu to relocate to Brisbane from his four-year home at the Melbourne Rebels.

When Perese’s yearning to play in the NRL first surfaced mid-year, the Reds understandably played hardball to have him honour his rugby commitments to the end of 2019, the final year of his contract.

Izaia Perese...big loss for #Reds rugby and he’s heading to #Broncos @cmail_sport https://t.co/0vPi4gc9KT

— Jim Tucker (@HulaBulaJim) December 10, 2018

“We have thought long and hard about this, as releasing players from their contractual commitments isn’t something we take lightly,” Queensland Rugby Union interim chief executive David Hanham said.

“Izaia was released on the basis of us identifying a quality replacement and this has certainly been achieved.”

Not swaying to Perese’s initial whim to be released mid-year gave the Reds time to potential talk around the youngster, a confidence player who had his mojo dented this season by a knee injury.

Wallabies winger Sefa Naivalu will head to the Reds from the Rebels with Perese joining Rugby League.

He was always equipped to jump ahead of or force a positional switch on Jordan Petaia or Filipo Daugunu at the Reds when they started establishing themselves as the Reds’ wingers this year.

The 91kg Perese is a major loss for rugby as one of the most influential young wingers the Reds have groomed over the past 15 years.

He has a tackle-busting knack to pinball through much bigger defenders and leg-driving determination that always converts to positive metres way above the expectations of a 1.80m frame.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika selected Perese as a development player for the 2016 and 2017 Wallabies tours of Europe and his impressive work at training always stamped him as a potential star.

The Reds allowed Perese to have time-off later in the year to sort out personal issues and he was unsighted during the National Rugby Championship for Queensland Country when his head wasn’t in rugby.

Perese playing for Wavell State High School in 2011.

Perese played beside Newcastle NRL star Kalyn Ponga in the champion 2014 Churchie First XV which dominated the GPS schools rugby season by an astonishing average scoreline of 50-13.

It’s unsurprising when Brodie Croft (Melbourne Storm) and Jaydn Su’A (Broncos) also emerged as top NRL talent from that side while Andus Scott-Young, Harry Hockings and Liam Wright are now quality forward performers at the Reds.

Perese’s rugby record will now be an under-achieving “what if?” career.

He played 17 games for the Reds for four tries and just five times this season when a bumper season was predicted after how he dominated the pre-season until knee ligament damage in a February trial against a Fijian side.

Perese (middle) at a Cowboys training session for up and coming stars with Matt Bowen (back) in 2012.

Rugby was invisible on TV to the young Perese, who may well have followed his early rugby league roots if that code had come knocking first.

His early idol was not in rugby but in a Melbourne Storm NRL jersey.

“I really looked up to Billy Slater as an amazing player for how he would put his body on the line for the boys,” Perese said.

Naivalu said he was looking forward to the opportunity at the Reds: “I’m very excited to go up there...(coach) Brad Thorn is well known and I’m looking forward to working with him and learning more off him.

“I just need to keep working hard and taking opportunities and execute how the coaches want me to execute and hopefully I get selected for the World Cup next year.”

Added Thorn: “Sefa’s a good guy, he brings maturity and experience at the highest level. We look forward to seeing him further his rugby career at Queensland.”