If he decides he wants a new challenge in an international game with the potential to play his way into a Rugby World Cup, that's great.
We have to make a final decision later in the week. It is pretty clear we want to see a genuine desire from Mark to play rugby union and a preparedness to back himself.
SANZAR has worked hard to push rugby into new and existing markets and the ABC Asia-Pacific deal is a huge step into more than 40 countries with a potential viewing audience of 10 million households.
Australian rugby and our supporters expect their players to represent themselves, their team and their country in a manner befitting an international player. It is unfortunate that we have had to resort to such a measure, but in this instance we were left with no choice.
As much as you can get a read on someone over a coffee, he came across as an impressive person who is genuinely interested in the challenge of playing rugby against the best teams in the world on an international stage.