Mark Nawaqanitawase would do more for rugby league and the World Cup if he played for Fiji instead of Australia, according to new Bati coach Mick Potter.
Asked if the Sydney Roosters flyer - who has been linked a short-term contract keeping him in rugby league for RLWC2026 - was in a 40-man squad submitted by coaches to the Fiji National Rugby League board, Potter said: “I’m pretty sure he would be - he’s not going to be number 41”.
Potter argued that the “floodgates” of popularity for league in Fiji would be thrown open with 'Marky Mark' on board for the tournament opener against Cook Islands on October 18.
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“I think he’d be way better to play for Fiji, wouldn’t he?” said the 1991 Dally M winner. “It would be just amazing if he elected to jump in with Fiji.
“He qualifies for us. If he elects to play for Australia., that’s his call. He’s going to rugby union next year.”
The father of the flashy flanker, Sevuloni Nawaqanitawase, moved from Fiji to Sydney the same year Potter won the Dally M, to play for Balmain.
Potter continues: “But it would be just amazing if he played for Fiji. The players would be so overwhelmed with that and certainly the country would be as well.
Can you imagine the stardom? It would be just awesome and the welcome he would get if he did it.
"It would send it to another level if we went back to Fiji and he was there.
“The floodgates of rugby league would open up over there.”
Nawaqanitawase was a member of the victorious NSW State of Origin team and last year toured England with the Kangaroos for the Ashes series.
If he was to join Fiji at the World Cup Nawaqanitawase could play alongside the likes of Viliame Kikau, Api Koroisau, Sunia Turuva, Jahream Bula and Maika Sivo.
The Fainu brothers, Latu, Samuela and Sione, who play for Wests Tigers, are also seeking eligibility clearances to represent their Fijian heritage.
The Bati will return to Fiji before the tournament but Potter will spend much more time there, saying his appointment - which runs until after the next World Cup - goes far beyond the senior men's team.
"They just approached me and asked me if I'd apply," he said.
"They want a holistic approach to rugby league, not just the Bati team. They want their kids playing sport. They want a holistic approach to having a healthy lifestyle across in Fiji - as well as being ambitious at the top end."
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