Rising rugby star Jordan Petaia says it sucks seeing former Queensland Reds teammate Izaia Perese defect to rugby league.
Perese trained with the Wallabies for part of their 2017 Rugby Championship campaign and drew praise from coach Michael Cheika.
However the 21-year-old winger is on a train and trial deal with NRL club Brisbane and registered with their feeder club Redcliffe.
Wallabies' squad member Petaia, who like Perese played junior league, recently signed a new four-year deal with Rugby Australia and the Reds taking him through to the end of the 2022 season.
The teenage winger-centre was disappointed to see Perese leave the 15-man code.
"It sucks seeing one of the boys heading into league but I'm sure he'll kill it," Petaia said on Wednesday.
"Everyone is behind him in whatever he does, so I'm sure he'll make the transition well."'
On the plus side for the Reds, Test winger Sefanaia Naivalu has been cleared to move across from Super Rugby rivals Melbourne Rebels.
"He's an awesome addition to the squad and I'm sure he'll love it down there and the boys are pretty happy to welcome him in and excited for him to come down," Petaia said.
Petaia capped a strong first year of senior rugby on Wednesday when named NRC Players' Player of the Year at the annual Rugby Union Players' Association awards.
The 18-year-old was poised to become the third youngest Wallaby when named to play Italy last month.
Hamstring soreness forced him out but his 2018 achievements clearly exceeded his modest expectations at the start of the year, when he wasn't even sure he'd play Super Rugby.
"My goals were just to try and make club rugby and Australian 20s," Petaia said.
He expects to benefit in 2019 from absorbing lessons learnt from senior Wallabies backs on the recent spring tour.
"I learnt a lot of knowledge from them, a lot of stuff about the game, keeping calm and just about my own personal positioning on the field," Petaia said.
Other winners at the RUPA awards included David Pocock, who won the Medal of Excellence and was joint winner of the People's Choice Player of the year with sevens star Evania Pelite.
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