Nemani Nadolo’s thick Australian accent is just one telltale sign that the New South Wales Waratahs’ decision to let the rampaging winger slip through their fingers could come back to haunt them on Saturday.
The Fiji international crossed the Tasman Sea with his Canterbury Crusaders side yesterday intent on clinching their eighth Super Rugby title in the final against the Waratahs, who cut him loose after a solitary season in 2009.
“When you are unwanted and have got to go elsewhere and find opportunities, I guess when the door shut there you do feel a bit sad,” Nadolo told Television New Zealand of his dumping by the Waratahs before the Crusaders flew to Sydney.
Photo: AFP
“But life goes on and five years later I’m here and going to play against them which will be good... and a challenge I am looking forward to,” he added.
Born in Fiji, Nadolo moved with his family to Brisbane as a young child and grew up in Queensland, where his father played for the state alongside Wallabies World Cup winner Tim Horan.
Rugby ran deep in the family.
Nadolo attended the storied rugby school Nudgee College, while former dual international Lote Tuqiri and Wallabies center Tevita Kuridrani are his cousins.
He transferred that high-school promise onto the international stage, where he was the top tryscorer for Australia in the International Rugby Board’s junior World Cup in 2008 and was signed by the Waratahs.
However, the Sydney-based side let him go after just one season, believing the 1.95m tall, 130kg Nadolo was not fast enough to play on the wing.
Nadolo then bounced around between clubs in England, France and back to Australia, before he finally settled in Japan with the NEC Green Rockets in 2011.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder, searching for a blockbusting prototype to ignite the backline, settled on Nadolo after a tip from former All Blacks fullback Greg Cooper, who was coaching the NEC.
“We are looking for something just a little bit different, a little bit of X-factor,” Blackadder told the Press newspaper when Nadolo was named in the Crusaders squad last year.
“And this guy has got it. He is an absolute hulk of a man, yet he can fly down the field like you wouldn’t believe for a man that size. Comparisons have been drawn with [former All Blacks winger] Jonah Lomu, and we can’t wait to work with him and unleash him in this competition,” he added.
Nadolo was the second-highest tryscorer during the season with 11, one behind the Waratahs’ fullback, Israel Folau.
It is not only his tryscoring ability that has helped the Crusaders into their 11th final.
Nadolo creates doubt in the minds of defensive lines and is able to break tackles — he has the highest number in Super Rugby this year with 26 — and gets his hand free to pass the ball to teammates running off him.
The biggest concern for Crusaders’ fans is that his contract situation is still to be determined and few would like to see their side repeat the Waratahs’ earlier error.
Nadolo is to return to the NEC for Japan’s Top League, though he said the Crusaders are the only team he would consider playing for in Super Rugby.
“It hasn’t been sorted out, yet, but hopefully it will be pretty soon,” he told the Press earlier this month. “I am off to Japan after this, but I really want to come back and build on this. We’re in talks. If I am going to play Super Rugby it is going to be with the Crusaders. They have given me this opportunity, so the loyalty is there.”
“I have always wanted to play Super Rugby and in the past things didn’t go my way. These guys came and gave me a lifeline and I am forever indebted to them,” Nadolo said.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS