Former Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has revealed that a number of NRL stars may have been keen to switch to union.
Rugby Australia has already thrown $5 million at Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i to get him to switch from league to union, and he was an immediate success for the Wallabies, wowing crowds at Twickenham as they defeated England.
His instantaneous success suggests that a number of his fellow NRL stars of 2024 could equally make a big deference to the nation’s union side, who currently sit eighth in the men’s world rankings – and were below Italy in ninth until that victory against England.
Now, it has been revealed that Rugby Australia have also explored the idea of taking more players over from NRL to play Super Rugby and ultimately become Wallabies stars.
Via the Australian Daily Telegraph, McLennan revealed that a third-party told him there were six players interested in a move, including Penrith Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary.
McLennan said: “Earlier this year, I got told Cleary and a few other top NRL players were keen to come to rugby via a third party. It wasn’t directed at me, but I believe it was all real.
“Perhaps they were wanting to test the waters with a few people, but by then I had left Rugby Australia. I left it alone as I felt it had nothing to do with me.”
He added: “RA has to go after Cleary, absolutely.
“I think the next two players Rugby Australia should look to target are Nathan Cleary and Payne Haas.
“It would be an amazing experience for Nathan.
“Signing Cleary would be a game changer for the code and add millions in the TV rights deal coming up.
“Nathan has done it all in rugby league. He has won four premierships with Penrith and played State of Origin and Test football.
“He was previously asked by NRL media about Sua’ali’i playing rugby and he mentioned how he loved rugby because he grew up in New Zealand when his dad was coaching the Warriors.”
