Queensland Maroons debutant reveals he hasn’t ruled out a future code swap to Wallabies rugby
Queensland Maroons debutant Jojo Fifita has revealed he has not ruled out returning to rugby union to pursue the Wallabies passion he had before moving to the NRL.
The first ambition of the 23-year-old football player, who made his name in the Titans, was to follow in the footsteps of his father Pila. Pila represented Tonga at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, while young Fifita took his talents to Southport School on the Gold Coast.
In 2019 he coincidentally faced an Ipswich Grammar School team spearheaded by uncapped Maroon Sam Walker in a 29-man draw to ensure TSS went through the GPS Championship season unbeaten.
“Sammy was the one who went crazy, it’s crazy to see him debut here at the same time,” Fifita said.
“I had no idea at that moment that I would make it into the league, and I probably couldn’t have imagined this moment 10 years ago.”
Fifita admitted that playing for the Wallabies was his first goal. At one stage he scored four tries in a match watched by former Australia coach Dave Rennie, who confirmed it remained an option for him at some point in the future.
“[Going back to union] It’s definitely in the back of my mind; “Probably not right now, but maybe in the near future,” he said.
Fifita’s first call at his Maroons induction ceremony was his parents, and each of them burst into tears.
It was Fifita’s father who convinced his son to claim NRL honors. The outside back had never played rugby league until graduating from high school, where he was also the national under-15 sprint champion.
It cannot be said that the transition was easy. Tweed admitted his first training session with the Seagulls was a wake-up call as he got used to retreating 10 meters defensively to go offside. “It probably took my calves a full year to get used to it,” he joked.
While Fifita’s immediate future lies in the league, the renewal of Australian rugby could mean NRL stars past and present taking part in next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Angus Crichton and Mark Nawaqanitawase will switch at the end of the season and look to join former Rooster Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii in the gold rush, while 2025 Blues star Zac Lomax is currently in a trade for the Western Force.
Fifita’s former Titans teammate Carter Gordon starred for the Queensland Reds this year and former Manly product Tom Wright has emerged as the country’s best full-back this decade.
Fifita and Walker are joined by Pat Carrigan (St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace), Kalyn Ponga (Anglican Church Grammar School) and Robert Toia (St Joseph’s College, Nudgee) as Maroons educated at rugby union-dominated schools.
New Wallabies coach Les Kiss, who made his name as a rugby league player with the Maroons and North Sydney Bears, said cross-code possibilities would always be considered but the union was keeping an eye on school systems to ensure good talent was not lost.
“From my little experience with RA, I can say this: [monitoring school talent]. It’s not as big and loud as other codes, but we keep a close eye on everyone in the field,” Kiss said.
While the respective games have a history of switching players, former dual-code star Brad Thorn said the transition wasn’t easy at all.
Thorn became the Brisbane Broncos’ premiership hero and featured in 14 Origin games for Queensland. He is also a Rugby World Cup champion with the All Blacks and won the 2008 Super Rugby title with the Crusaders.
After working through each code twice, Thorn is still struggling to understand how he makes it work, but he said more should follow his lead.
“Anyone who wants to get a feel for this, I fully support both ways. You only live once. If you want to test yourself, this is a pretty good test,” Thorn said.
“It’s humbling and it takes some perseverance and dedication to finally be instinctive in the game and start expressing the talents that they have.
“There’s a part of me where I want to support the guys who grew up playing rugby. There’s guys that come along that do different things and treat them well – they take on a challenge – but I also think there’s some really quality rugby kids coming through and that’s been my dream all the way through.”
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