He hasn’t played since round one, but Suaalii says he’ll return a better player. Here’s why

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii says he’s confident he will be fit to return for the Waratahs next Friday against the Hurricanes in Wellington after making strong progress in his recovery from a toe injury this week.

Suaalii has played just one game for his club, the round-one victory over the Highlanders, and will not be risked this Saturday against the Brumbies in Sydney.

Asked on Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven if he had any concerns that sitting out a month of Super Rugby could affect his chances of facing the British and Irish Lions, Suaalii said: “No, not one bit. I’m pretty confident in my ability to play the game of rugby.

“Obviously, you don’t want to get injured, but in this period I’ve just been studying the game differently, from a coach’s perspective, and just trying to work on skills that I wanted to work on. It’s not ideal being injured, but I’ll be ready to go once it comes [facing the Hurricanes] next week.”

Suaalii travelled to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, and spent time on the grid with All Blacks legend Dan Carter.

The Kiwi five-eighth played a vital role in defeating the Lions 20 years ago, and Suaalii used the time to listen to his thoughts on rugby.

Waratahs star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has been spending time in the coaches’ box with Dan McKellar while he recovers from injuryCredit: Getty Images

“Everyone knows Dan Carter, so I was pretty stoked to meet him at the start and then start talking about rugby, just picking his brain like off the field to see what he does to prepare and how he can attack training and different things,” Suaalii said. “He’s a very knowledgeable guy and a very humble guy.”

Suaalii will join Waratahs coach Dan McKellar – who he described as “pretty intense” in the way he prepares the team each week – again in the box at Allianz Stadium for the match against the Brumbies.

Suaalii believes his time spent studying the game alongside McKellar and assistant coaches Mike Catt, Dan Palmer, and Lachlan McCaffrey will pay off in the long term as he adjusts to his new code.

“Getting injured wasn’t part of the plan, but you’ve got to take the positives from it,” Suaalii said. “Being able to go in the coaches’ box and see from a coaching perspective what the game of rugby is, it’s great and it’s just put my learning much faster. I feel like I’ve been enjoying that aspect of the game.”

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii with Waratahs teammate Siosifa Amone.Credit: Wolter Peeters

McKellar has coached Wallabies and World Cup winners across the world, but cannot remember the last time he fielded so many enquiries about a player’s recovery time.

“I think he’s certainly topped the list there in terms of players that bring a whole lot of interest,” McKellar said. “I’ve coached some high-profile players like Handre Pollard, who has won two World Cups [for South Africa], over at Leicester and I had other players there, but Joseph seems to attract plenty of attention, which is good for the game and good for the Waratahs.

“It’s obviously a challenge for Joseph. He’s a 21-year-old young man, and we’ve got to make sure that we protect him there as well. He trained well Tuesday, trained really well today, competed hard, so all things going well, he should be available next week.”

McKellar admitted he had considered including Suaalii on the bench against a confident Brumbies side aiming to extend their 13-game winning streak against the Waratahs, but had ultimately decided not to take the risk.

“It was considered, but there’s playing and there’s performing, and there’s a big difference,” McKellar said. “When you’ve got every camera in the stadium on one bloke, and he wouldn’t have been right, then you open up the risk of calf and hamstring and quad injuries because they just don’t have the training load on board.

“He hadn’t run fast, and hadn’t had a whole lot of metres in his legs, so you need to make the smart decision there and think of a longer game instead of trying to rush him back for this week.”

While Suaalii has been using his time off the field to increase his knowledge of rugby, his nascent rap career with former Roosters teammate Joey Manu has not on the same upward trajectory.

“That’s just a bit of fun, you know Joey Manu, he’s actually good, I’m not that good,” Suaalii said. “We just use it as a thing to bond with each other off the field ... but obviously, he’s in Japan now. It’s just a thing that we enjoy, besides rugby.”

Watch all the action from the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season on Stan Sport, the only place to watch every match ad-free, live and on demand.