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'Brutally honest': Nadolo on World Cup 2023 and quitting Leicester
Nemani Nadolo has finally shed light on why he has quit the title-winning Leicester with less than a year to go before potentially representing Fiji at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. It was early August when the 34-year-old was confirmed as a new Waratahs signing for the upcoming Super Rugby Pacific season and he has now explained the reason behind his switch nine weeks later.
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“I’ll be brutally honest with you, it was moving home to Australia,” said Nadolo about leaving Leicester, a decision he revealed was originally taken with Tigers boss Steve Borthwick in the latter stages of the 2021/22 season without having a club lined up to go to. That uncertainty even left him contemplating retirement before the Waratahs came in with their one-year offer.
“I went to Steve and told him my situation. It was my family first and in a normal world you would have something lined up to go and I didn’t have a club. I had a few conversations with my wife about potentially maybe retiring, so it wasn’t until five months down the track that I was fortunate enough to sign for the club in Australia.
“You can imagine at the time we were doing really well at Leicester and on our way to potentially playing in a semi-final (last June). It was nerve-wracking times and I was weighing up either retirement or finding something in Australia. There were opportunities to go to other countries but I’d rather just stay at Leicester if I was going to do that. There was no point in me going to another country.
“The whole purpose of moving back to Australia was for my wife and to be close to my family. It was daunting then (the uncertainty). I look back on it and there was a stretch for about five months where I was looking at retiring because there were no clubs. We all know with the current situations going on, clubs are hard to come by.
“I was very, very lucky that the Tahs took me in. I’m from Brisbane so my wife and son will be moving back home to Brisbane. I’ll be living in Sydney and trying to commute back and forth. That was the first and foremost reason. People think I left because of another club. No, it was to get home and I’m lucky, I’m counting the stars that I managed to get a club.”
The seasoned Nadolo has played three times in recent years for Fiji while at Leicester since ending his Test-level retirement. He had gone from June 2018 to December 2020 without earning a cap and has since played twice against the All Blacks in July 2021. He’s unsure, though, whether he will be up for selection for France 2023 where the Fijians have been drawn in a pool that includes Wales, Australia and Georgia.
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“I don’t know, I’m taking it a month at a time. There are a lot of things happening and look, Fiji are in a great place in terms of outside backs and we produce some of the best wingers in the world. Look, perfect world I’d love to go but there are a lot of hurdles to go before I get there.
“I used to always worry about that sort of stuff when I was younger, would I make it there, would I make it this, but now I have changed my perspective on life. I’m just enjoying this time here (in Leicester) and then I’ll see whatever comes in Australia.
“I haven’t spoken to Vern (Cotter, the Fiji coach) for a while now which is probably a good thing I would like to think. No news is good news, particularly at this stage of my career. If I just keep doing what I am doing who knows? You never say never and you just try and keep humble about it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments