‘Fullback is the perfect spot for him’: Wallabies great makes big call on Joseph Suaalii’s rugby future

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has had to bide his time in the outside backs at the Roosters, but a Wallabies great is convinced his best position is elsewhere.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is tipped to excel at fullback when he joins rugby in 2025. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Former Wallabies star Morgan Turinui says fullback is “the perfect spot” for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and is backing the young star to make an immediate impact on the sport when he switches from rugby league in 2025.

Suaalii is no stranger to the role having played there at the King’s School, while he also was fullback for Samoa at last year’s Rugby League World Cup.

The 19-year-old has played on the wing and at centre for the Roosters given skipper James Tedesco and Golden Boot winner Joseph Manu are ahead of him in the depth chart at fullback.

But Turinui is convinced Suaalii will excel at the back when he joins the Waratahs in 2025 after he signed a mega three-year deal with an eye on the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is tipped to star at fullback when he switches codes in 2025. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“I think he’s a fullback based on the skills that he brings,” Turinui said.

“The different sort of space in rugby is a big thing. There’s less space in the front line compared to the 10m rule in league. You speak with a lot of the league guys who come across, they notice how much less space there is in the front line.

“Where there is space is on the kick stuff where he’ll get more room. In league, you get tackled and you go to ground and you keep possession, but there’s a contest in every tackle in rugby so the space is often in the backfield.

“To give space to a guy like him who has his speed and evasion skills paired with his power through contact, fullback is the perfect spot for him.

“Whether he needs a bit of time on the wing to learn a bit is up to him, but he’s got that base having played rugby for the King’s School, so I think he’d be able to slot straight into Super Rugby as a 15.”

Morgan Turinui has praised Suaalii for the way he’s handled criticism this year. Picture: AP Photo/Themba Hadebe

Suaalii has been widely criticised for his decision to leave the Roosters, but Turinui said it was the nature of professional sport in Australia and the teenager had “handled it with class”.

Money will always play a part in a decision like that, but Suaalii has always insisted that the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in 2025 was what made him want to switch codes.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in a Lions tour and a World Cup, especially a home World Cup,” he said in his first public interview this year.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a young kid. I still remember watching Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau when I was younger, so it’s always been a dream of mine.”

Tours like that happen every 12 years, and Turinui said it hurt to miss out on the 2001 series by just two years.

The former centre said it was wild to think ex-skipper Nathan Sharpe never got the chance to face the Lions despite playing 116 Tests for Australia.

The British and Irish Lions last toured in Australia in 2013. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

“It’s a huge thing for us in rugby, especially because you’ve got the World Cup in France and then the next one in Australia in 2027, so having something right there in the middle gives a consistent run of great events,” Turinui said.

“It’s a lucky time to be a rugby player and it’s understandable why Joseph would identify something like that.

“You can see in Australian rugby at the moment that lots of Wallabies at the moment are re-signing, so we haven’t seen the huge exodus that we often have in the four year cycle because of gaps between World Cups.”

Originally published as ‘Fullback is the perfect spot for him’: Wallabies great makes big call on Joseph Suaalii’s rugby future