This former Wallaby couldn't crack the NRL side that came within a whisker of the wooden spoon. Now a desperate Rugby Australia have paid an eyewatering amount to get him back

Wallabies fans fear Rugby Australia is getting desperate after a player that could not make it in the NRL was immediately parachuted into the national side for the upcoming Spring Tour.

Carter Gordon announced himself as a Wallaby before he was poached by the Gold Coast Titans where he hoped to re-invent himself as a halfback in the 13-man code.

Gordon played fly-half in Super Rugby for the now-defunct Melbourne Rebels from 2021 to 2024, making 46 appearances and scoring 156 points.

He also earned eight caps for the Wallabies and was regarded as one of the brightest young playmakers in the code.

However, perhaps showing the widening gulf between the NRL and Super Rugby in terms of talent, he battled to get a start under Des Hasler at the Titans.

This is the same Gold Coast Titans that won just six games all season and narrowly missed out on the wooden spoon only because the Newcastle Knights were marginally worse.

Admittedly, Gordon struggled with a neck injury that meant he only played a single game of NRL all season.

But even if fully fit, the question remains - would Gordon have earned many more starts at halfback with the likes of Kieran Foran, Jayden Campbell and AJ Brimson ahead of him? 

The Titans have abandoned the experiment under new coach Josh Hannay and the club has given Gordon permission to negotiate with Rugby Australia and the Queensland Reds.

However, the Titans slapped a $100,000 transfer fee on a player that was barely sighted in first grade - and Rugby Australia gladly coughed it up.

In a further sign the Wallabies are battling ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, Gordon was also immediately added to the Spring Tour that kicks off against England on November 1. 

From stints at the Tweed Seagulls and Ipswich Jets in the second-tier rugby league competition in Queensland, to the international stage in rugby.

It has left many fans left either mocking or desperately worried about the state of the talent pool in the 15-man game ahead of the World Cup.

'No wonder Australian rugby is stuffed. The ABs [All Blacks] will keep hold of the Bledisloe for another 20+ years with the way rugby Australia run things,' one fan fumed.

'Did he prove anything at France World Cup? Why [did] he run to [the] NRL? And Rugby Australia want to bring him back. I don’t see any sense,' another puzzled supporter posted.

'Oh come on that’s just stupid. He's played no rugby yet you wanna pick him?' questioned another.

Others are calling the decision a masterstroke, questioning why a prodigious talent was allowed to walk out the door in the first place.

While the 2023 World Cup was the worst in history for the Wallabies - who failed to escape the pool stage for the first time ever - most lay the blame squarely at the feet of former coach Eddie Jones.

And they believe Gordon, if fit, can make an immediate difference to the playmaking stocks of the Wallabies.

'Carter is a brilliant prodigy. He reminds me of Stephen Larkin back in the days. I think if he wants to come back to the Wallabies they should consider him,' one posted.

'Carter is a rare phenomenon with size, speed, big kick, sharp brain, huge work ethic, great in attack and defence,' added another.

The first Spring Tour Test against England will kick off at Twickenham in London on Novemer 1.