Michael O'Connor said Nawaqanitawase's extraordinary two-year run in the NRL reflects well on rugby union at a time when the Wallabies' Bledisloe Cup drought has stretched to 24 years.
"You look at his ability and what he's been able to do; to me, it reflects really well on rugby that we have a player like him come over to rugby league, and there are quite a lot of sceptics in rugby league around rugby union, and to see how he's dominated the competition, I think it's a good thing," O'Connor said.
Nawaqanitawase signed with the Sydney Roosters after the Wallabies' 2023 World Cup campaign, a switch that shocked Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh, since the back had only broken into the Wallabies in late 2022. He scored on debut against South Sydney, topped the NRL tryscorers list in 2025 with 24 tries, earned Kangaroos selection for the Ashes in England and bowed out with a State of Origin series win and a premiership, scoring twice in the Roosters' 19-18 grand final win across 26 months.
O'Connor, who played 13 Tests for the Wallabies before scoring 87 tries in 10 rugby league seasons for St George and Manly, first saw Nawaqanitawase as a Wallabies selector in 2019. He said the 26-year-old was returning to rugby a better player than the one who left after the Paris Olympics, and will join Japanese League One club Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights.
"He's a real athlete, and that was apparent even when I was a selector. He made the Australian under-20 squad that went over to Argentina in 2019. He was scoring tries, he had a great instinct for the game and where the ball was, and his visual awareness was through the roof. But I think he's just grown into a man, and he's a far more complete footballer now. I think his move to rugby league has been a good thing; it certainly has brushed up some areas of his game... he'll go back up with a lot of confidence."
Wallabies coach Les Kiss wanted to pick Nawaqanitawase for next month's Nations Championship campaign in the United Kingdom, but the winger ruled himself out after seeking time off. O'Connor said the decision means Nawaqanitawase could run out for Fiji or Italy next year, given he would have missed three years of international rugby. He argued the Wallabies need such players for next year's World Cup.
"Just watching New Zealand on the weekend, just the power of their lineup, there's just no weaknesses, and that's where we need to go. We need to get a complement of players who've played together and got no weaknesses. He's a world-class player, and that's what we need."
O'Connor also defended Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, exposed defensively in the Wallabies' 43-21 loss to New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday. He said Suaalii, who will be named this week for his third spring tour, had been harshly rated since being catapulted into the Australian team in late 2024. "I feel a bit sorry for him in a way. He's not complained once, but he's played a number of positions."
Fellow former Origin star Zac Lomax could push for a national call-up on Sunday when Australia A faces the USA Eagles in Nashville. O'Connor, who made his Wallabies debut in 1979, said Australian players needed to play flatter at the line against the rush defences of South Africa and New Zealand, a role he believes Suaalii can fill.