Joseph Suaalii is right to snub rugby league’s million dollar deal, writes Tim Horan
Rugby Australia need to sign more talented players like Joseph Suaalii because the sport can offer them so much more than just money, TIM HORAN writes.
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I’m all for Rugby Australia signing talented players like Joseph Suaalii because we need heroes that young kids can look up to.
You never want a player like him to slip through like previous schoolboy players over the last five years. But just because Suaalii has rumoured to have knocked back $1.7 million for three years from the South Sydney Rabbitohs – that doesn’t automatically mean that Rugby Australia have offered more.
My understanding is that the offer from RA would be at least one third of the rugby league offer which tells me money is not everything and maybe Joseph values the opportunity to play in a Wallaby Gold jersey and travel the world and play in a real World Cup rather than playing at Wollongong or Campbelltown week in week out.
As I’ve written in this column before, the big challenge for rugby is to hold on to those top 10 to 15 talented schoolboy players for the first two years after school.
You can’t guarantee a kid straight out of school will play Super Rugby in their first year so you need to be able to hold on to them and give them a bit of time.
That means giving them a decent contract but you’ve got to be careful it’s not too much and the funds should be coming from benefactors rather than Rugby Australia because that’s the best way to retain that talent for that period.
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We are already seeing that with some of the younger players coming through in Super Rugby AU but I don’t expect Dave Rennie will want to bring them all in at once.
If he’s sitting in his hotel room in Sydney in quarantine for the next two weeks, he’ll have plenty of time to think about the makeup of his team but he will want to get the right blend.
When I was a selector many years ago under Eddie Jones one of the things we would do was pick a Test team after every weekend — on a Monday morning — so by the time you get to the end of the competition, you‘ve got 90 per cent of your Test team picked on form.
If Rennie and the selectors were picking a team this week, they would have some tough decisions to make because there‘s a lot of depth in some positions and not enough in others.
The front row will look after itself because we’ve got the likes of Taniela Tupou, Scott Sio, Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Fainga’a and others but second row is the concern.
We need to find someone to replace Izack Rodda and Rory Arnold and run the lineouts. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto would be a good choice even though he’s played a lot of six, because we have other options there and he‘s more of a second rower anyway.
Michael Hooper picks himself at seven every time and I also think he should remain captain because he’s got a lot to offer on and off the field, so it comes down to what Dave Rennie is looking for at eight and six.
Harry Wilson is a great option at No. 8 because he’s one of the best offloaders in the game, but would Rennie prefer someone like Isi Naisarani who consistently makes a lot of metres?
It’s been a great decision for Liam Wright to play at six at the Qld Reds and he would already be under consideration along with Lachie Swinton, because of his aggression.
Jack Dempsey still has got a lot to offer because he’s a player that could easily start at six or No. 8 and has so much experience if you go for Harry Wilson at No. 8 or Liam Wright at six.
There’s a lot of depth in most positions in the backline but Marika Koroibete is probably the only certainty, on the wing.
You’ve got Dane Haylett-Petty, Jack Maddocks and Tom Banks at fullback but I think it’s time to go for Tom Banks.
He was one player that I was really disappointed not to get a chance at the World Cup because he’s in that Chris Latham mould in that he can change a game himself.
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The other wing spot is up for grabs. Tom Wright deserves an opportunity and I’d be thinking about picking Filipo Daugunu right away because he’s as good a talent as we’ve had in Australian Rugby for years.
I give a big tick to Tate McDermott but I would alternate between him and Nic White at halfback but for the other younger guys, like Noah Lolesio and Will Harrison, it’s still too early.
I don’t think they’re ready for Test match footy yet, especially four Tests against the All Blacks, so let’s not throw them in too early, especially when you’ve got Matt Toomua and James O’Connor.
That’s where you need to get that balance right, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tinker with different players from time to time throughout the Test season coming up – but you just can’t roll out an under 20s team without experience around them.
Originally published as Joseph Suaalii is right to snub rugby league’s million dollar deal, writes Tim Horan