Justin Marshall issues warning to Joe Schmidt and Wallabies star after ‘rolling the dice’ with ‘crazy’ decision
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and former All Blacks star Justin Marshall.
Justin Marshall believes that Joe Schmidt could find himself in a sticky situation should he handle the Noah Lolesio situation poorly.
The All Blacks great insists that the fly-half has put his Test career on the line by making the shock decision to agree a deal with an as yet unnamed Japanese club.
Although it is only a one-year deal, Wallabies boss Schmidt has previously not taken too kindly to players signing contracts with overseas sides.
Schmidt’s ruthlessness
In January, number eight Langi Gleeson agreed a deal with Top 14 outfit Montpellier and was immediately ‘uninvited’ for a training camp.
That followed a number of ruthless calls by Schmidt in 2024, who decided not to include Izack Rodda, Josh Kemeny, Izaia Perese and the NRL-bound duo, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Carter Gordon, in the Australia squad.
In theory, the same fate should befall Lolesio and Marshall has warned the head coach against making a different choice with the fly-half despite his importance to the team.
“Lolesio’s rolled the dice hasn’t he? He’s already said to Gleeson: ‘You’re not invited to the camp and I want players who have a future in Australian rugby playing rugby in Australia’,” the ex-All Blacks scrum-half said on the GBRANZ podcast.
“Lolesio is not going to be playing rugby in Australia within the next year and a half once he goes to Japan. He will fall in that same category and Joe Schmidt will probably treat him the same way.
“You know what it’s like being in a team and one guy gets treated differently to another, that just creates a s***storm.”
👉 Noah Lolesio reveals how the Wallabies ‘made it tough to stay’ and Joe Schmidt’s reaction
Lolesio was overlooked by previous Wallabies boss Eddie Jones but the Brumbies playmaker became a key part of Schmidt’s side last year.
He started the majority of their Tests at 10 and played some excellent rugby, which makes this decision all the more surprising.
Current Crusaders fly-half and experienced Australian international James O’Connor joined Marshall on the podcast and was surprised by Lolesio’s decision.
‘The incumbent 10’
“It’s crazy though, he was the incumbent 10,” he said. “Obviously, he’s got his own personal reasons for deciding to do that, but with the Lions series, World Cup, there must have been some good reasons for him to go.
“Unless he has been given the nod that he will be able to play.”
That prompted Marshall to return to the point he made previously and appeared to compare it to the spat between Scotland’s Gregor Townsend and Finn Russell a few years ago.
“I know from any team environment, and you know this as well, if one player gets treated differently to any other… Finn Russell, the old two beers, how well did that go down? What a nightmare,” he added.
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