Joseph Suaalii to quit Roosters, join rugby on monster deal

NRL superstar Joseph Suaalii is set to quit rugby league just one week after his path to Roosters’ fullback jersey was blocked.

Joseph Suaalii has been put on report for a late tackle in the Roosters clash against the Warriors. Credit: NRL Images.

NRL superstar Joseph Suaalii is set to quit rugby league in a sensational move that would see the 19-year-old join rugby on a one-year, $1.6 million deal in 2025.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that the 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.

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His agent has been in direct negotiations with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan over the signature of the star fullback, after recently signing a one-year extension with the Roosters until the end of 2024.

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

News Corp has reported that Roosters insiders are now “resigned to losing the talented outside back”.

The Lions only tour Australia every 12 years, and so the opportunity to play for the Wallabies would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Suaalii.

With Suaalli reportedly disappointed by the club’s re-signing of fullback James Tedesco until 2026, given his own desire to play the position himself, the teenage prodigy is set to become the latest name in a long list of dual-code NRL stars that have crossed over into union.

Given his Sydney base, he is likely to play for the Waratahs in Super Rugby, who like the Roosters and Suaalii himself, are based in the city’s east.

The race for Suaalii’s signature was won by the Roosters in one of the biggest recent coups in rugby league. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Joseph Suaalii played rugby at The King's School in Parramatta.

NRL legend Andrew Johns has warned it would set a “dangerous precedent”, asking “what message does it send to the managers?” on Wide World of Sports.

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

Johns thinks that despite Suaalii being all but gone, he 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.