Wallaby back Mat Rogers will switch codes again and join the National Rugby League’s (NRL) Gold Coast Titans after next year’s Rugby World Cup, the team announced on Wednesday.
Rogers, who represented Australia in rugby league before switching to rugby union ahead of the 2003 World Cup, will complete contractual obligations to the Australian and New South Wales rugby unions before joining the Titans on a two-year contract worth $450 000, the team said.
He will play in next year’s Super 14 competition for the New South Wales Waratahs and be available for the Wallabies at the World Cup in September and October in France before joining NRL expansion team, the Titans.
Rogers was one of several high-profile rugby league players recruited to rugby union before the 2003 World Cup in Australia.
His versatility, which allowed him to play at centre, flyhalf and fullback, and his previous experience in rugby union, made him one of the most successful of Australia’s recent league converts.
He will be 32 before his first game with the Titans.
”When you look at age you look at wear and tear on the body and he hasn’t played a lot of games over the last four or five years,” Titans coach John Cartwright said Wednesday, confirming Rogers’ signing.
”He’s a gifted athlete and playing into his thirties won’t bother him at all,” he said. ”He hasn’t lost any speed at all and he looks after himself.”
Wallaby coach John Connolly said Rogers’ switch to league would not jeopardise his World Cup selection chances and the Australian Rugby Union said he was leaving the sport with its blessing. — Sapa-AP