Rugby Australia boss warns against freezing Joseph Suaalii out of Origin

Rugby Australia has fired a warning shot at rugby league, warning against freezing out star convert Joseph Suaalii.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of the Roosters makes a break during the round two NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the New Zealand Warriors at Allianz Stadium on March 11, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The rugby code war is heating up again, with Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan calling for the New South Wales Rugby League to not be “vindictive” in freezing out Joseph Suaalii from Origin selection.

Suaalii shocked the rugby league world when it was reported that the 19-year-old would join rugby on a $1.6 million salary in 2025.

The Roosters winger has catapulted himself into the Origin selection frame for NSW with strong performances in 2023, aided by a long-term injury to Bulldogs speedster Josh Addo-Carr.

“League should pick on talent and form, and not be vindictive,” McLennan told the Nine papers.

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“I suspect they’ll have a better chance of ever getting him back if they’re dignified about it.

“If Joseph’s wish was to return to league at some point in the future, we’d be relaxed about it.

“It’s a great honour to play for the Wallabies or in a Lions series, but we wouldn’t be punitive.”

McLennan’s remarks come alongside an excited Eddie Jones, who himself would like to see Suaalii play Origin for New South Wales before he steps into the blue of the Waratahs.

“The league recruits we had in the past, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers, all were brilliant at Origin,” the Wallabies coach said.

“It’s a true test of a league player, and they showed they could cut it there, and it would be good to see Joseph in that same arena.

“I think if you can handle what Origin throws at you, it shows you will be able to handle Test rugby.

“It’s the highest of standards and it would be great to see him make it into the Blues side and then play well.”

Joseph Suaalii is off to rugby after 2025. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Suaalii’s rugby deal will see him join the Wallabies and put him in the frame to play the British & Irish Lions on their 2025 tour of Australia, and could see him play a home World Cup in 2027.

His agent was in direct negotiations with Rugby Australia chairman McLennan over the signature of the star fullback, just weeks after he signed a one-year extension with the Roosters until the end of 2024.

Suaalii is represented by Isaac Moses, who also represents (and is related to) Parramatta star Mitchell Moses.

NRL legend Andrew Johns warned Suaalii’s defection to rugby would set a “dangerous precedent”, asking what message it sent player managers on Wide World of Sports at the time.

“Every player would have a rugby union contract just dangling in front of them,” added Blues coach Brad Fittler.

Suaalii is a serious chance for the Blues side this year as a winger. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

However, Johns thinks Suaalii won’t necessarily be lost to the code.

“I guarantee he’ll come back at some stage, they all come back,” he said.

“Wendell (Sailor), Lote (Tuqiri), Mat Rogers, Sam (Burgess), Sonny (Bill Williams), they all came back.

“I wish him good luck on the world stage, but I can guarantee he’ll be back.”

The teenager, who played rugby as a student at The King’s School in Parramatta while a part of the Rabbitohs’ Harold Matthews Cup side, represented the GPS 1st XV, as well as the NSW Schoolboys and Australian under-18s Sevens rugby side.

Despite this, he was sensationally signed to the Sydney Roosters in November 2020 after a heated battle for his signature, with the eastern suburbs club successful over the Rabbitohs on the basis that Suaalii was given ‘get out’ clauses in his contract that gave him the freedom to switch codes if he desired.

Originally published as Rugby Australia boss warns against freezing Joseph Suaalii out of Origin