The Waratahs are hopeful star recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii won’t be sidelined for a long stretch with a toe injury, but in Henry O’Donnell they have an understudy intimately familiar with the code-hopper’s game.
“I’ve played Joey since we were growing up … he was always that size, and he was always running over the top of a few of us from a young age,” O’Donnell said on Thursday.
O’Donnell has been named to make his Waratahs debut against the Fijian Drua on Friday night at Allianz Stadium, following injuries to Suaalii and centre Joey Walton.
It wasn’t a straight swap, with Andrew Kellaway replacing Suaalii at fullback and Darby Lancaster to start on the wing. But there was also every chance Suaalii would have shifted up to partner Lalakai Foketi in a reshuffled midfield before being ruled out.
After injuring his toe in NSW’s round one win against the Highlanders and recovering over the Tahs’ bye week, Suaalii pulled up sore after training on Sunday. Waratahs coach Dan McKellar said in a release they were still seeking more detail on Suaalii’s injury “but hopefully that’s short term”.
A concern for the Tahs could be if Suaalii sustained a “turf toe” injury; a painful ligament strain in the big toe that is common among NFL players, and has a recovery range that can extend beyond a few weeks and into a few months.
Henry O’Donnell running in a try for the NSW “A” team.Credit: Waratahs media
O’Donnell is ready to step up, however, after returning from a one-year stint with Western Force, where he made his Super Rugby debut last year. The 22-year-old rose through the NSW junior ranks, and played for Australia under 20s – and Uni and Norths in Sydney club rugby. But with a queue of good centres at the Tahs, he went west in late 2023.
McKellar brought him back as one of his first signings, and he was a standout in a losing Norths team in last year’s Shute Shield grand final.
O’Donnell is joining several age-group peers in the Tahs side to meet the Drua, including Teddy Wilson, Max Jorgensen and Jack Bowen. O’Donnell said he and Bowen had been teammates in a Riverview school team that had suffered against Suaalii for years, starting at the age of 11.
“Me and Jack, we were always 10-12 [five-eighth and inside centre] and Joey was playing 10 in the other team [Kings] and he’d get the ball from 10 metres out and run over everyone and score a try,” O’Donnell said.
“We were also 4′5 and he was 6′3 at that age, so yeah, it was a bit different back then.
“Obviously Joey’s a freak talent … he can play probably all positions.
“I am confident I provide a slightly different skill set that the coaches might want to use, so I’m just going to go about my game like I usually go about it and that’s just hard physical and up front.”
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii goes close to scoring against the Highlanders in his Super Rugby debut for the Waratahs.Credit: Getty Images
Another player making his Waratahs debut against the Drua will be former Rebels prop Isaac Kailea, who suffered the indignity of going from eight Test caps for the Wallabies last year to missing selection in the Tahs’ 23 in round one.
“It is competitive now, one less team, a lot more talent spread out among the Super teams, so I think there’s guys all over that probably missed out on a couple of games,” Kailea said.
“Obviously I wanted to play, the disappointment was there for a couple of days and then luckily [for] the boys weren’t selected for that Highlanders game, we had a game last week against the Brumby Runners team.”
The Waratahs will also begin the defence of their 2024 Super Rugby Women’s title at 5pm on Friday night at Allianz Stadium, in a rematch with beaten grand finalists, the Fijiana Drua.
The dominant Tahs side will be without several stars, including Piper Duck, Bella McKenzie, Desi Miller and Caitlyn Halse, but coach Mike Ruthven has drawn confidence from the side’s depth and form in the pre-season. That included a two-game tour to New Zealand, where the NSW women lost to the Hurricanes but drew 36-all with last year’s Aupiki champions, Auckland.
It was a good gauge for the Waratahs about where they stand compared to the Kiwi women’s teams, particularly with RA and NZR in talks about a trans-Tasman women’s competition starting as soon as next year, and ahead of the 2029 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“The game needs it … and there’s a huge appetite over there for it to happen as well,” Ruthven said. “We greatly hope we get that crossover.”
