Rodda has ‘no regrets’ about his messy Reds exit

Returning Wallaby Izack Rodda has “no regrets” about deserting the Queensland Reds last year to play club rugby in France.

Having committed to playing for the Western Force next season, 24-year-old Rodda has been recalled to the Wallabies squad for next month’s Bledisloe Cup.

Rodda and then Reds teammates Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas walked out on the Reds last year, refusing to agree to periodic 60 per cent pay cuts accepted by every other Australian Super Rugby player during the competition’s Covid-19 suspension.

“I just made a choice on what I thought was best for my future and my family at the time, and I have no regrets on that,” Rodda said on his decision to join French club Lyon on a lucrative deal.

“I’ve learnt a lot on my year away and definitely changed a lot as a person.

“I’ve matured a lot. I reckon I’ve grown a lot in the last year mentally, and physically as well.”

Reds coach Brad Thorn was furious with Rodda’s decision to turn his back on his team and was further angered in May when reports emerged that the ex-Queensland player was set to return to Super Rugby.

And it seems the pair are yet to resolve their differences.

Izack Rodda is back in Wallabies colours. Picture: Rugby AU Media/Stuart WalmsleySource:News Regional Media

“I haven’t spoken to ‘Thorny’ since I’ve been back,” Rodda said.

Rodda admitted he had found the intensity of Wallabies’ training sessions tough.

“I was used to training in France and wasn’t expecting to come back into this environment so soon but, so I wasn’t as fit as I would have liked to have been and the boys have really hit the ground running,” he said.

“They’ve been doing some really good sessions, it’s been really fast and intense, and I’m just trying to do my best to keep up.

“In France, it’s designed a lot more differently because you’re trying to prepare for 32-game season plus finals so you want to build slowly. You don’t have to be the your peak performance at the start of the season because you’ve 32 games to find your rhythm.

“In the Wallabies you’ve got to be on every game. Every game’s a must win, it’s a grand final, so you got to train like that here more than as opposed to in France, where you can build into it over the 10-month season.”

The Wallabies squad is scheduled to leave for New Zealand, with the Australians to meet the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday week.

The teams are also schedule to meet in Perth on August 21 with a date and a venue for the other game in the three-match series yet to be confirmed due to Covid-19 complications.

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