Eddie Jones might be enjoying the banter that's sprung from Australia's new code wars but the returning Wallabies coach is determined to stay out of the fray.
With Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan and NRL boss Peter V'landy's going back and forth in the press over each code poaching the other's players, the two rugby codes are at each other's throats like never before.
Roosters star Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'I has already been confirmed to be moving to rugby for the 2025 season, and the 15-man game has also been linked to Broncos enforcer Payne Haas.
But with Jones firmly focused on Australia's upcoming World Cup campaign, he will play no role in trying to lure Haas across to rugby.
"I'm not involved in that and, to be honest, with that I don't have any interest other than watching and enjoying NRL," Jones told ABC News Radio sport reporter Catherine Murphy.
"I'm only interested in the next five months. We have a smash and grab, we have to get our team together, we have to work out a way to play together and to win — firstly in Pretoria, where Australia has never won in the history of the game.
"He (Haas) is not going to play in that game so I don't really have much interest."
Jones's return as Wallabies coach and McLennan's front-foot media tactics have given rugby the shot in the arm the ailing code desperately needs after years of losing players to rugby league.
McLennan has not been shy about declaring rugby's interest in NRL stars like Haas, Nathan Cleary and Cameron Murray, but Jones has kept his focus on his team rather than the media back and forths.
"I don't read those headlines and I don't take too much notice of it," he said.
"I think it's fantastic for sport to have a little bit of rivalry. Rugby has been off the scene and Hamish has been quite bullish in the market taking on the NRL and I think that's only a good thing.
"I'm sure they're having a bit of fun with each other and enjoying the antics. I'm sure some people find it amusing and others find it boring."
Jones held his first training camp as Wallabies coach last month but it was not without controversy.
A squad convened on the Gold Coast and was put through its paces, but eyebrows were raised when the 33 players hit the training paddock in an assortment of club, state and even NRL kit rather than official Wallabies gear.
There was speculation Jones was sending a message that everything in his Wallabies set-up would have to be earned, but according to the coach the reason was more practical than metaphorical.
"It wasn't a Wallaby camp as such, it was an aggregation of players from Super Rugby that was set up to do commercial work and do stuff with sponsors and the people who support us," Jones said.
"But because there's been a change in the coach we needed to do some more work on the field.
"Normally they wouldn't have done much work on the field because they're with their Super Rugby teams and they have their Super Rugby kit.
"But I wanted to send a message that once you come into the Wallabies you're not with your Super Rugby team.
"The first Wallaby camp will be when all players are available and we're together as a team."
One message Jones was looking to send became clear when he brandished a cattle prod during the team's first meeting.
His target was talented but underperforming rugby league convert Suliasi Vunivalu, a surprise inclusion for the camp. Jones said the metaphor got the job done for the Queensland Reds flyer.
"The cattle prod worked. It gives you a bit of a shock, the cattle prod. He did really well but it's like any other player, there's massive competition in that wing spot,"
"We've got Mark [Nawaqanitawase] from New South Wales, we have young [Max] Jorgensen, we have [Marika] Koroibete who we caught up with on Monday.
There's huge competition for those wing spots and for Suli (Vunivalu) it's about keeping improving, keep working on his game, getting a little bit fitter, getting more touches of the ball.
"We know he's a great player and he's moving in the right direction."
Jones also revealed the Australians would wear their new white jerseys in a World Cup warm-up match against France.
New IRU guidelines regarding colour blindness will mean the Wallabies cannot wear their famous gold against Portugal in one of their pool matches so Jones's side will don the white against the French in an effort to get used to the colour.
"We just have to make sure the players are used to it," he said.
"The big thing with colours is you have to be used to them, you have to be able to identify your teammates very quickly.
"It's not our choice, it's forced on us by the organisers of the World Cup. I don't worry about things we can't control. It's there so we'll make the best of it."
