David Campese fumes after Rugby Australia rejected chance to sign Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii for just $100,000 a season

Rugby Australia’s $4.8 million buy back blunder has exposed the code’s inept pathways system and is the catalyst of a stinging attack on administrators from Wallabies great David Campese.

Schoolboy rugby star Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii.

Rugby Australia could have signed Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii when he was a schoolboy sensation for just $100,000 a year.

The move would have kept him in the code and had him on track to star for the Wallabies at this year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

Instead, they’re paying him $5 million over three years to get the boom superstar out of rugby league... in 2025.

The revelation comes as Wallabies legend David Campese slammed Rugby Australia over the mega signing of Suaalii.

The champion former winger insists the money should be spent at grassroots level to stop rugby’s next generation of elite juniors from switching to the NRL.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii as a schoolboy rugby star.

“Think of what rugby union could do in pathways with the money they are spending on one player,” Campese said.

“This is the reason we’ve been losing kids to rugby league for years … there has been no investment in juniors.

“They say Suaalii will be paid almost $5 million over three years – imagine what you could do in junior development and schools with that sort of money.”

When Suaalii’s agent at the time took a three-year offer to rugby powerbrokers at the end of 2018 to keep him in the code, they rejected it.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in action for the Sydney Roosters. Picture: NRL Photos

That $300,000 investment would have kept him in the 15-man game until the end of 2021.

Even with a contract upgrade and an extension beyond that original term, Rugby Australia wouldn’t be paying him anything like the $4.8 million they’ve now been forced to cough up for the 19-year-old to switch codes for the 2025 season.

It’s another indication of how the code refused to invest in their best juniors and pathways.

Dolphins whiz kid Isaiya Katoa was playing rugby at Barker College but in the Penrith Panthers’ system before attracting the interest of Wayne Bennett.

The 18-year-old represented Tonga at last year’s Rugby League World Cup and made his NRL debut for the Dolphins in round 1.

Katoa follows a long and distinguished line of former schoolboy rugby stars to make the jump to the NRL.

Suaalii’s best friend and King’s School rugby teammate Will Penisini recently extended his Parramatta contract until the end of 2025 and is regarded as one of the best young centres in the game.

The pair will be marking up against one another when Suaalii’s Roosters host Parramatta at Allianz Stadium on Thursday night.

New Wallabies coach Eddie Jones’ hit list of NRL players features more former schoolboy rugby stars the 15-man game let slip through its fingers such as Nelson Asofa-Solomona of Melbourne and Manly’s former Newington College speedster Tolu Koula.

Campese is arguably Australia’s best known Wallaby legend.

He played 101 Tests at fullback and on the wing and is still involved in junior coaching.

“If we had the right systems in place, players like Joseph would have stayed in union in the first place,” Campese said.

David Campese played 101 Tests for the Wallabies.

“Now we’re spending all the cash to get him back.

“That’s why we’re exposed to NRL clubs. There is no money for rugby union kids.

“Why aren’t we looking after our own?

“If you don’t have the foundations, you can’t build a house.”

Campese says he has not seen a lot of Suaalii in rugby league.

“I hear he’s a very good player,” he said.

“But how does Max Jorgensen feel? How do the other best young players feel?”