Joseph Suaalii contract: Wallabies players incensed by big money offer to teenager
News of the potential return of teenage sensation Joseph Suaalii into the arms of Rugby Australia has left a bitter taste in some quarters, but it could be the shot in the arm the code needs.
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The signing of Joseph Suaalii could be at once the best and worst outcome for Rugby Australia among the many controversial decisions they’ve made in recent years.
“This is ridiculous,” one player said of the report that RA is offering Suaalii $3 million over three years.
“How are they offering a 16-year-old that much money when we’re all being forced to take pay cuts?”
Fair question.
Super Rugby returns! Watch every game of Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Aotearoa Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
RA interim chief executive, Rob Clarke, shot back.
“Financial offers being speculated in the media presently are totally fanciful, and is being propagated by the usual suspects whose sole interest it is to inflate and misrepresent contract values,” Clarke said.
Nevertheless, RA is desperate to pull off the coup.
“We have made it no secret that we would like to keep Joseph within the rugby pathway,” Clarke said.
“At this stage there has been no agreement between Joseph, his family or his representation. Rugby Australia continues to have an open and exciting conversation about his potential future in our game.”
RA deny their offer is close to $1 million a season. But what we can be sure of is that it’s much more than NRL club Souths Sydney’s offer of $570,000-a-year, a figure that would instantly make Suaalii among the top 10 highest paid rugby players in Australia.
So the angry reaction of numerous star Wallabies, who are all on pay cuts and have been given no guarantees of being reinstated to full salaries after September 31 when their agreement with RA expires, is understandable.
MORE SPORT NEWS
Souths’ teen sensation backflips on NRL, mega deal
Three Sydney clubs in line to land Broncos star
But Suaalii is the most hyped teenage footballer in the country’s history, said to be better than Israel Folau, Sonny Bill Williams and Greg Inglis at the same age.
When he was just 14, Suaalii had a training run with professional rugby players, grown men, and physically dominated them. One still gets teased about the touch up.
Rugby was slammed last year for losing him to the Rabbitohs system when Suaalii confirmed rugby league was his chosen sport, having played union at school and junior representative level.
They tried to coax him back, then came the bombshell last month – Souths had offered Suaalii $1.7 million over three years to secure his talented services.
Well, rugby – without a broadcast deal, shedding numerous staff and forcing their top stars to take 65 per cent pay cuts to survive the COVID-19 pandemic – was dead in the water.
Or so we thought.
Many teens have been touted for greatness and, after receiving mega pay deals, have been overburdened by expectation and failed to reach their promise.
Through no fault of his own, Suaalii can expect a cold reception in rugby dressing rooms, filled with players who have sacrificed a great deal only to be greeted by a teenager earning far more.
And the unforgiving social media landscape will be sure to critique each Suaalii error with glee.
The Wallabies are struggling to find two international worthy second rowers this year, while a teenage outside back with no professional experience could be given one of the best salaries in Australia.
RA will have a dissenting playing group, but also a superstar face to represent the code until the 2023 World Cup.
What Suaalii has already delivered rugby is the cut-through news they’ve desperately craved for months.
Originally published as Joseph Suaalii contract: Wallabies players incensed by big money offer to teenager