Wallabies and Queensland Reds star Jordan Petaia chasing NFL dream after quitting rugby union

Once considered the future of the Wallabies, 24-year-old gun Jordan Petaia has quit rugby union to chase his NFL dream. Plus, the six Australians who he is following down that path.

Jordan Petaia has quit rugby to chase a dream he’s had since childhood. To play in the NFL.

When he was a schoolboy, the only two days his father would allow him to take off were his birthday, and the Super Bowl.

At 24 years, the Wallabies star is now embarking on a courageous journey to make the big-time in the US, inspired by the likes of Valentine Holmes and Jordan Mailata, who went through the International Player Pathway program he is now enrolled in.

“I’ve thought about it for a while and it’s been in the back of my head, I’ve loved watching the sport and I’ve been a fan for a long time so I think,” Petaia told this masthead.

Jordan Petaia played 31 Tests for the Wallabies. Picture: Rodrigo Valle/Getty Images

“To know I had this opportunity and didn’t take it, I just feel I couldn’t live with that regret.

“And just being a fan and, I’ve always had the dream.

“It’s something not only I had as a dream, but even my old man used to joke around, but low-key serious, about it. Like when you see those other boys go along that IPP pathway and some of them get going, he’s just said, ‘You know, the opportunity is there’.”

Petaia debuted for Queensland Reds straight out of high school aged 18 in 2018, and has since won 58 Super Rugby and played 31 Tests for the Wallabies.

As a fast, powerful outside back, his skill set would suit a running back or wide receiver in gridiron.

Petaia grew up supporting the Kansas City Chiefs and would spend countless hours watching YouTube videos of their former running back Jamaal Charles.

Former Wales rugby international Louis Rees-Zammit went through the NFL’s IPP program last year and ended up being drafted by the Chiefs, however they cut him from their roster before the season and he is now with Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mailata went from being a South Sydney league junior to becoming one of the NFL’s premier left tackles, and is on a three-year, $100 million contract with Philadelphia Eagles.

NRL star Holmes went through the IPP and eventually made the New York Jets practice squad in 2019, however returned to league after failing to get game-time in the NFL.

Jarryd Hayne left the NRL in 2014 to pursue NFL, and eventually made his debut for the San Francisco 49ers the following year, playing eight games before he quit to play for Fiji in Rugby Sevens and then return to league.

“When the IPP started, just the transition of international athletes, I’ve always been fascinated by their journeys and love supporting them and watching them closely,” Petaia said.

“Watching guys like Jordan Mailata go over and, Valentine Holmes, they went over to a sport unknown to them, we grew up playing rugby union, rugby league. So nothing’s guaranteed, and nothing’s easy.”

Australia’s Jordan Mailata has made it big in the NFL. Picture: Elsa/Getty Images

Petaia has been in camp on the Gold Coast learning play calls and running routes, and will head to Florida next month for a 10-week training program, after which all 32 NFL clubs will send talent scouts to pick the best talent for their pre-season squads.

“They just started up a new academy down here on the Gold Coast, there’s a few young boys down there and a few older boys, so it’s just pretty much just learning the game from scratch,” Petaia said.

“It’s not locking down one position, but being versatile and learning different books, learning different code, basically speaking a different language.

“I’m only learning a fraction of it, but it’s just to start practising and getting your head around the language they speak.

“I’m just trying to get ahead of the ball and learn as much as I can before I head over to that camp in Jan in Florida.”

And how does the idea of catching passes from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sound?

“My mindset’s not even that far ahead, but I like the thought,” Petaia said.

Originally published as Wallabies and Queensland Reds star Jordan Petaia chasing NFL dream after quitting rugby union