Mark Nawaqanitawase was back on the Roosters wing for the Raiders vs Roosters clash in Canberra on Friday, ending a five-week spell on the sidelines after syndesmosis tightrope surgery.
His return mattered because the Roosters needed stability as much as speed. They came into the night sitting third with a 7-4 record, but their recent form had been messy enough to raise eyebrows, with 18 errors against Melbourne and another 18 in the Magic Round loss to the Cowboys, a level of wastefulness that can undo a strong start in a hurry.
For Nawaqanitawase, the comeback came sooner than many players manage after the same operation. Sports physiotherapist Brien Seeney has said most players who undergo syndesmosis tightrope surgery return after six to eight weeks, and the 25-year-old was already back in the frame after five. That made his selection in Canberra a real test of how ready he was, not just whether he had made it back in time for the team sheet.
The Roosters have spent the first half of the season living with a contradiction: good enough to sit inside the top three, but too loose to trust from week to week. Their errors have not been isolated mishaps. They have come in clusters, the sort that hand momentum away and force coach Trent Robinson to keep asking the same question about why the game keeps slipping through their hands.
That is why the return of one wing mattered beyond the individual. Nawaqanitawase brought pace and a cleaner option out wide, but the bigger issue was whether his presence could help settle a side that had been giving opponents too many free chances. Canberra was the first answer, and it was the only one that counted on the night.
There was another layer to the match as well. Canberra centre Ethan Strange, once a Roosters junior and the starting five-eighth in the Tricolours’ SG Ball grand final loss to Penrith in 2022, had already gone on to make his NSW debut in Origin I after Mitchell Moses broke down with a hamstring strain. It was a reminder of how quickly careers can shift between clubs, representative football and the main stage.
For the Roosters, though, the immediate question was simpler. If Nawaqanitawase could hold up his end after five weeks out, the backline had a chance to look sharper. If the errors kept coming, his return would be only a small correction to a much bigger problem.
