It’s payback time for Waratahs reject Nemani Nadolo
Crusaders winger, dumped by NSW outfit in 2009, is ready to create havoc upon his return in the Super 15 final
Nemani Nadolo's thick Australian accent is just one tell-tale sign 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 on Wednesday 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 shuts there you do feel a bit sad," Nadolo said of his dumping by the Waratahs before the Crusaders flew to Sydney.
When you are unwanted and have got to go elsewhere and find opportunities I guess when the door shuts there you do feel a bit sad
"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."
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 current Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani are his cousins.
He transferred that high school promise on to the international stage where he was the top try-scorer for Australia in the International Rugby Board's junior World Cup in 2008 and was signed by the Waratahs.
The Sydney-based side, however, let him go after just one season, believing the 1.95-metre tall, 130kg Nadolo was not fast enough to play on the wing.