NRL: A cautionary tale for Joseph Suaalii

There’s lessons for Joseph Suaalii in the fate of Karl Filiga, in action for Wentworthville

He had just turned 18 when he was described as “the next Sonny Bill Williams”. Someone considered to be a good judge of teenage footy players mentioned him in the same breath as Israel Folau.

A 98kg bundle of speed, power and sidestep, he was looked upon as the future of rugby league, the next big thing.

And no, I’m not talking about the teenager you’re thinking of. Joseph Suaalii, 16-year-old kid who appears finally to have been won over by Russell Crowe after a high-stakes bidding war between South Sydney and Rugby Australia, is just the latest teenage prodigy to have the weight of massive expectations thrust upon them.

Not all of them stand up under the burden. And there are lessons for Suaalii and the clubs keen to sign him in the tale of another potential superstar, Karl Filiga.

In 2007, Filiga, a teenage centre who grew up playing for the Chester Hill Hornets in Sydney’s west, was the subject of a bidding war between several NRL clubs. Before he had played a single NRL game, he signed a contract with Cronulla worth $600,000 over three years. Big money for a teenage footy player in 2007 – to be honest, pretty big money for a teenage footy player now.

He didn’t make it on to the field that year, spending most of the season sidelined with chest and footy injuries. The early promise that had seen him compared to SBW and Folau appeared to fade a little in 2008 and he didn’t debut until round 13, coming off the bench for 11 minutes against Penrith.

And that was it. Cronulla released him on “compassionate grounds “ in 2009. Rough estimates suggest it cost the Sharks $20,000 for every one of the 11 minutes he spent on the field.

The NRL was obviously not the place for Filiga. He spent some time with the Wentworthville Magpies, the feeder club for the Parramatta Eels, and was last heard of in bush footy. In 2017 he was starring with the Cooma Stallions in the Group 16 competition.

Suaalii has now been swept up onto the same merry-go-round. He was 12 when rugby and rugby league clubs started sending scouts to watch him play. At a time when most teenage boys are worrying about little else but teenage girls and PlayStation, he was being courted by South Sydney.

Now he and his mum and dad have been flown in a private jet to Crowe’s picturesque 400ha property on the NSW north coast to be sweet-talked. And at the age of 16 he must choose between a contract with Rugby Australia, which comes with an eye-watering amount of money and a chance to play Sevens at the Tokyo Olympics, and sticking with Crowe and the Rabbitohs. And if he opts for rugby league, which seems likely, Peter V’landys has indicated he will bend the rules to allow him to play NRL as a 17-year-old.

But the truth is that a dozen things can go wrong in the time between the moment he signs on the dotted line and the moment he runs out to play NRL.

Injury is always a major threat for young players in any code of football as they step up to play at a higher level. But the mental and emotional impacts are the tough ones.

While most of his mates are earning pocket-money or whatever you take home for a couple of shifts flipping burgers, Suaalii will be earning staggering amounts, no matter which code he chooses. That brings with it mountains of pressure and a whole new set of fairweather friends.

The greatest pressure, however, comes from the expectation. After the bidding war, the media spotlight, the private jet flights, all the recruiters and coaches and footy club bosses telling him he is something special, Suaalii will carry an almost unbearable burden of expectation to perform. A terrifying weight to carry on young shoulders.

Bizarrely, the most sensible assessment of what’s going on here has come from one of those who has contributed to the hype surrounding Suaalii.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett says: “We still don’t know how good he is going to be, and suddenly he has this huge burden of expectation placed upon him. It is not healthy for anyone in that situation.”

Suaalii may very well be the next big thing in rugby league – he certainly appears to be endowed with exceptional talent. But who knows?

Either way, his chances of succeeding would probably increase if everyone involved just took a step back and let him be a teenager for a while.