“A lot of people have talked about him and that’s totally understandable. But like I have said, he’s not coming here to save the universe. He just has to do his bit in the team.”
Joseph Suaalii? Close. Rewind a decade or so and think, instead, of another high-profile cross-code star who made a shock switch to rugby on a phone-number salary, and under all the hype and headlines that go with it.
We are talking about Israel Folau, of course. Or more specifically, Michael Cheika was talking about Folau, a week or two out from his Waratahs debut in 2013.
Folau’s rugby career may have ended amid lawyers and bitterness but as Rugby Australia prepare to onboard Suaalii in coming weeks, the early days of their former poster boy could end up being a useful guide in how to not only figure out the best position of their new million-dollar man, but handle the crushing expectations attached as well.
Eighteen months after Suaalii’s shock decision to sign with rugby on a three-year, $5.4m deal, the 21-year-old’s actual switch is finally upon us.
The controversy has long since faded, leaving us now with only questions. Can Suaalii cope with the 10,000-watt spotlight that will come with a weekly payslip of $30,000?
Joseph Suaalii is about to begin his three-year deal with Rugby Australia.Credit: Digitally altered/Getty
Can Rugby Australia handle the expectation and pressure on their marquee man, and themselves, that they created by splurging on such a huge salary?
In the short term, will Suaalii go on the Spring Tour next month, and potentially even play for the Wallabies before he’s played a minute of Super Rugby? And, most basically, what position will he play?
What is Suaalii’s position in rugby?
Be it in Australian or NSW colours, logic says the safe starting point for Suaalii to re-acclimatise to rugby is wing.
Wing is where he played a majority of his schoolboy rugby, although his tender age had a bit to do with that. Suaalii made the Kings first XV at 14, and was only 15 when he played for the Australian Under-18s in 2019. Everyone lost a year to COVID in 2020 and the year after that he was a 17-year-old in the NRL. So it’s fair to say we don’t really know Suaalii’s home in rugby yet.
Where is his best spot? Many pundits believe Suaalii is either a fullback or an outside centre in the 15-man game.
His speed and aerial athleticism look suited to the back three. Winning the air is a huge part of rugby, and contestable kicking has been a weak point for the Wallabies since Folau departed.
Back three roles are all similar but fullbacks get their hands on the ball far more, and that’s why Cheika had no hesitation in skipping the safe option of wing and putting Folau straight into the No.15 for NSW.
Roosters centre Joseph Suaalii battles the Eels’ defence.Credit: Getty Images
“I know there’s a few areas where he will get caught out on,” Cheika said at the time. “But the issue is just him enjoying getting the ball in his hands and doing what he does well.”
NSW teammates laughed about Folau having no idea he’d been sinbinned in his first trial match for NSW – “something about the breakdown” – but he settled quickly into fullback, and the pressure of his high profile eased each week.
Folau was put on a wing for his Test debut against the Lions and he played well, but after five Tests – and about five touches a game – he moved to fullback in gold.
Tellingly, Cheika said recently he’d pick Suaalii at fullback, too. But Suaalii’s size and strength in contact have many predicting he’d be a better weapon in the centres. Two in from the edge, outside centre shares most with the league centre role. But defending at No.13 is also regarded as the hardest spot in rugby, and rival coaches spend hours coming up with ways to get players to bite and make a bad read. Particularly players with a league stint on their CV.
Israel Folau proved a revelation for the Wallabies when making his debut against the Lions a decade ago.Credit: Dallas Kilponen
The smoky option is Suaalii being deployed even further in, and Schmidt is said to be seriously considering the 21-year-old as a No.12. The Wallabies have smallish midfielders, and at 100kg and 196cm, Suaalii has the size and aggression to consistently win the gainline; in the same fashion as Damien De Allende or Jordie Barrett.
The curse of versatility
Asked what position he was considering for Suaalii, new Waratahs coach Dan McKellar told this masthead last month: “I’ve got a bit of an idea, but I won’t make it public at the moment. Look, he could play No.13, wing, fullback – he could probably play at 12 as well. He is a special athlete.”
The danger in being versatile is never finding a specialty, though, and being used to solve the different problems of different coaches. Just ask Adam Ashley-Cooper or Reece Hodge.
Joseph Suaalii training with the NSW Blues ahead of his Origin debut.
So with the Lions series fast approaching, the effectiveness of Australia’s new high-performance alignment may get its first big test in all the parties finding common ground on Suaalli’s best position.
If Joe Schmidt’s plans for Suaalii next July don’t marry up with McKellar’s plans in March, who wins that fight? Time will tell, but the size of RA’s investment in Suaalii gives a fairly obvious clue.
Will Suaalii go on the Spring Tour?
Chief executive Phil Waugh said no decisions had been made but given Suaalii was spotted at RA headquarters this week, all signs point to him joining the tour squad – fitness pending.
Schmidt only has four weeks left with the team on tour before he waves them goodbye until the Lions series starts up next July. He’ll want to make sure he gets as much education and training into Suaalii as possible over the month.
Would Suaalii play in any of the Wallabies’ four Tests? Short of an injury crisis, probably not – just like Marika Koroibete, who went on the 2016 Spring Tour but didn’t debut until the next year.
Setting aside the howls of protest that’d come with Suaalii being fast-tracked into the Wallabies, the more boring reason is there’d be far more risk than reward for the team (and the player), after his four-year break and with only a handful of training sessions to get up to speed.
Like Koroibete in 2016, Suaalii could lace up for Australia A, who are playing two games against Bristol and England A on an adjacent tour. But the timing is not great – the games are in the first two weeks of the tour – leaving him only a handful of training sessions to prepare. The two squads will not be staying together, either.
Perhaps most importantly, the question of Suaalii’s physical state will also be a key factor, given he suffered a range of shoulder and neck problems in a long and brutal NRL season.
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