Roosters freak’s promising career already coming to a tragic close

The rumours are not going away surrounding Roosters rising star Joseph Sua’ali’i and it seems there is only one way it will all end.

NRL 2023 RD05 Sydney Roosters v Parramatta Eels - Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, CELEB. Picture: NRL Photos

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It seemed only yesterday a life of rep honours and rankling Souths were beckoning, but now Joseph Sua’ali’i’s time in rugby league appears sadly destined for an early release or premature Mad Monday.

The Roosters gun was supposed to leave behind rugby league in a quivering state of satisfaction when he retired to rugby union for a life on a wing and deep cable television.

But season 2023 has seen the prodigy’s bright light fizzle in tune with the Roosters’ premiership aspirations, with suspension, poor form, and pretty much everything else dogging his tragic final moments bar injury and a night at the Golden Sheaf.

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This week’s ban for lifting his knees in to Reed Mahoney — a running style slammed for being more suited to cabaret than yardage — was the latest ‘concerning act’ notice issued to Sua’ali’i in addition to two previous kneeing charges and his decision to join the Wallabies.

While giving his best in the 25-24 victory over the Bulldogs, it was another forgettable pockmark complemented by a 40m penalty goal attempt that could be best described as a delightful chip kick behind the line.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is looking at a bleak future of mauls and Mercedes. Picture: NRL Photos.

In addition to rumours of unrest with the Roosters hierarchy, Sua’ali’i’s 2023 has been a far cry from his arrival when his rugged confidence belied his years almost as much as his stunning rig.

Many link the start of his downfall to signing a behemoth deal in March with Rugby Australia to begin in 2025, with persistent whispers ever since suggesting an early release could be granted by the Chooks to clock-on for the Wallabies before schedule.

The deal, reported to be worth a life-changing $1.6m per year, equates in rugby terms to 2.3 touches per game at approx $125,000 per carry, and/or one term’s school fees.

Ever since signing the deal, rumours have swirled of a rift with the Roosters, namely due to the 19-year-old activating a juicy extension clause for with the club for 2024 only weeks earlier.

Sua’ali’i’s signing was a huge coup for Rugby Australia, with the beleaguered governing body making no secret of their desire to lure the schoolboy star as part of a plan to recapture the code’s glory years when elite code-hoppers would flock to play alongside iconic rugby names like Andrew Walker and Berrick Barnes.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is going to cry himself to sleep every night on his bed of cold hard cash. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.

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

Nevertheless, while the Roosters have publicly denied the spat — claiming Sua’ali’i is desperately needed after slumping to dangerously low levels of rep players in reggies — the wunderkind’s form ever since tells a different story.

So where does this leave Sua’ali’i’s closing chapter in The Greatest Game of All?

Barring a miracle turnaround from player and club in both form and decorum, the rookie will likely finish the year in a Roosters flame-out that fizzles before September, thus amplifying the calls for a pre-2025 release — if he’s not released earlier.

This could leave the young buck with the unwanted narrative of wasting his last moments in the NRL by stupidly securing his financial future, at least until he inevitably returns from rugby and unloads four years of pent-up energy on the next fresh-faced prodigy.

But despite his grim predicament, Sua’ali’i has a golden opportunity to leave behind a legacy rarely witnessed in rugby league.

All it will take is for both he and the Roosters to miraculously honour his contract.

— Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.