Analysis: Carter Gordon’s decision to ditch rugby for NRL wooden spoon contenders is beyond alarming for Rugby Australia
Last year, Carter Gordon was playing at the Rugby World Cup. It is beyond alarming he has given up the chance to take on the British and Irish Lions to join one of the worst teams in the NRL, writes JAMIE PANDARAM.
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Carter Gordon said it all in his opening quote in the statement issued by the Gold Coast Titans announcing his signing for two years with the NRL club.
“I’m excited with the direction that rugby league is taking and the positive feeling around the game,” Gordon said.
Because unfortunately, the same can’t be said for rugby.
It is beyond alarming for union that the 23-year-old Wallabies five-eighth has given up the chance to play against the British & Irish Lions to join one of the worst NRL teams instead.
Gordon has never played league.
It’s not been a lifelong dream. He didn’t grow up in a backyard imitating Darren Lockyer or Johnathan Thurston, but Matt To’omua and Quade Cooper.
And yet, after just nine Tests for the Wallabies that included the bucket list Bledisloe Cup and World Cup games, he’s gone.
Unlike Mark Nawaqanitawase, who played league throughout his teenage years and is a lifelong Roosters fan who signed with the NRL club from next year, Gordon’s exit is a blistering summation of the state of Australian rugby.
In the key position the Wallabies have most struggled with over the past decade, one of the most promising talents prefers to jump ship to an NRL club that is battling for the wooden spoon.
Gordon was among an entire squad of players with no home after the Melbourne Rebels went into administration with $23 million in debt, after which Rugby Australia refused to hand back their license, ending their participation in Super Rugby after last weekend’s quarter-final loss to the Hurricanes.
While it is known Gordon wanted to move to Queensland, and the Reds have depth at five-eight, that alone was not enough to see him spur an offer to join the NSW Waratahs.
Gordon, like every other player in Australia, has seen the game’s steady decline over the past few years and particularly in the past 12 months as the failure of the World Cup came to roost, and RA were forced to take on $50 million of debt to stay afloat.
RA has kept telling us that the Lions – a once-in-12-years tour – is a major lure for Wallabies players to stay. But that isn’t enough for Gordon, Nawaqanitawase or Leicester-bound centre Izaia Perese.
They’re all Wallabies stars who coach Joe Schmidt will leave out of his July Test squad as he prepares a team that will be ready for the Lions in 12 months’ time.
The Brumbies’ Noah Lolesio – who just signed a one-year extension with RA – is now the favourite to win the Wallabies No. 10 jersey, while the Force’s Ben Donaldson, who is the Australian incumbent five-eighth, and rookies Tom Lynagh and Tane Edmed are contenders.
But Gordon is a huge loss.
He burst on the international scene in spectacular fashion when coach Eddie Jones picked him during last year’s Rugby Championship, and then was astonishingly Jones’ only No. 10 in his World Cup squad as he dumped Cooper and Bernard Foley.
After Australia lost to Fiji in a pool match, Jones dropped Gordon to the bench in favour of Donaldson, who started against Wales and Portugal.
But Gordon, a speedy five-eighth with a strong passing and short kicking game, as well as being a sturdy defender, was essential to the Rebels making the finals for the first time this season.
He should have seen and heard enough from RA to stay.
But how is he expected to make a decision to join the Tahs when they don’t even know who their head coach will be next year?
Officials aren’t yet sure what the Super Rugby Pacific draw looks like for 2025 with one less team, or what the future of the competition will be beyond that when the broadcast agreement with Nine and Stan Sport finishes.
As bad as the Titans may be this year, at least Gordon can see stability in their future.
With veteran Titans playmaker Keiran Foran off contract after this season, Gordon may well step up to fill the role as a halves partner for Jayden Campbell.
When he was named for the 2023 World Cup, Gordon seemed to finally be the answer.
Nine months later, his departure from the game only raises more questions.
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Originally published as Analysis: Carter Gordon’s decision to ditch rugby for NRL wooden spoon contenders is beyond alarming for Rugby Australia
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