IT IS not the record Scott Fava was aiming for when he made his Super 14 debut for Queensland eight years ago.

But by signing with the NSW Waratahs on a two-year deal he believes offers "a good fresh start" to his life as much as his career, he became the first player to be listed on the rosters of all four Australian Super 14 sides.

"The illustrious tag, the first player to go to the four unions," Fava joked yesterday after confirming his transfer to Sydney from Perth, where he was a founding member of the Force and still had one year to go on his contract.

The 32-year-old back-rower and holder of five Wallabies caps was granted an early release by the Force to return to his birthplace of Sydney on compassionate grounds - and with the full approval of the Australian Rugby Union. His move ends a journey in which he has earned five Super caps for the Reds after joining in 1999, 46 for the Brumbies and 34 for the Force, where he scored the franchise's first try.

Fava was a major signing for the Force, but his time there was marred by two well-publicised disciplinary breaches. He was the first Force player to fail their internal alcohol testing measures and, last December, was one of two players - the other being Richard Brown - fined for interfering with quokkas during a drunken team bonding session on Rottnest Island.

Fava's addition to the Waratahs helps fill the void left by the move to Europe by Wallabies back-rowers Rocky Elsom (Ireland) and David Lyons (Wales). Yesterday Fava said he had learned from off-field errors and that his return to Sydney was also made with a view of cementing a more stable family life.

"In regards to the quokka incident, I know in myself that is not the person I am these days," Fava said. "That came down to alcohol and how I was using it. I have made better life choices, not only for myself, but for my family. That falls in line with why I have made the decision to come back to NSW and sign this two-year deal.

"Now it is all about my family and it can suit them better and [how I can] be a better father and better husband. It's good I can separate myself now from those issues that might have been in Perth. It is a good fresh start."

News that his wife Sarah is nine weeks pregnant with their second child also heightened the desire to return.

"It has been tough over in Perth in terms of [having] no family over there. We have a little 14-month-old girl, Poppy, who doesn't see any of her grandparents or any of the family that much," Fava said. "Not having that support in Perth is tough, tough on Sarah. I have been on the road for nine years in my career, and Sarah has been with me for six of those. It's about time we started looking after ourselves and get back home."

Fava is also thrilled about re-uniting with former Eastwood coach Chris Hickey, who is coaching NSW. It was under Hickey that Fava became the only player to win the Ken Catchpole Medal three times - in 2002, 2003 and 2004.