Jordan Petaia is one of Rugby Australia’s youngest and brightest stars, however, with a string of injuries, he has been unable to display to the world his full potential.
Road to recovery has been a process that Jordan has had to become familiar with and he stated in an interview earlier this week that he is confident in his physical abilities.
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“My body is feeling the best it felt in years, touch wood, it’s been going well for me. Keep working hard, the staff have been conditioning me well, so I keep following that program,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Marika Koroibete will have a well-deserved week off to spend time with his family, returning to Melbourne.
Petaia played on the wing earlier this year against the All Blacks and insisted he is up to the job to continue Koroibete’s workload and efficiency.
“It is defiantly a mental thing; everyone can work hard and it's something that you got to just do really," he admitted.
Petaia is grateful for his time on the bench and believes simply watching his fellow teammates is a huge learning process for him.
“I have not seen many players like him get across everywhere. It’s a huge learning for me to watch him work hard,” said Petaia on Marika’s work ethic.
“If I can keep following Hodge and watch how those boys play and see how they get across the park I think it’s been good for my learning”.
However, Petaia has his eyes set on another position.
“I would like to take on that 15 role, wherever it happens, if it’s next year at the Reds or the end of this year, the more positions I can cover the better it is for the team and it is good for my growth as a player,” he added
“Wissey has covered that before; he knows my intentions in the long run” referencing discussions and talk from Wallabies assistant coach Scott Wisemental in August about playing fullback.
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Reece Hodge, however, has been playing really good rugby in recent time and his performance against Argentina displayed how comfortable and dangerous he can be at fullback, it would be hard not to return the 15 jersey to him.
Nevertheless, Jordan is just happy to play his part, if that be on the bench, on the wing or at fullback.
“I’m just working hard to do whatever’s best for the team.”
