Humble and polite, ‘Superman’ Joseph Suaalii ticks every box

Teenage star Joseph Suaalii is in demand but at Glenmore Park they admire his personality as much as his talent.

The gifted Joseph Suaalii playing schoolboy rugby. Picture: Paul Seiser/SPA Images

Just the other day, the most coveted teenager in Australian sport showed up at Ched Towns Reserve in Glenmore Park – about an hour west of Sydney – as the local under 8s were going through their paces.

Joseph Suaalii dived right in. He grabbed the pads and took the kids through some tacking drills. If reports are to be believed – and in this case there is much debate over the veracity of the purported pay packets from rugby union and league – anonymity is going to become much harder to come by in the future.

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Those who know Suaalii best suggest he will continue to show up at Glenmore Park regardless, because this is where he is most comfortable. Back among his mates, at the club where he took the first nascent steps in a promising career.

“He has always been one of the better kids in the Penrith district,” said Dean Williams, a friend of the family whose son played with Suaalii for years.

“He has always been the standout. He played with my son from the age of seven right up to the age of 14 when he left the club.

“He is so polite. He is just a brilliant kid. He comes from a really good family. He is hard not to like. Everyone loves being around him – to his friends, he is just Joseph.

“He has always been in a really good team. They won five premierships. Even now, he still comes down to training with the boys and his mates.

“He is still a 16-year-old. He still should be a kid.”

At Glenmore Park, they can’t speak highly enough of Suaalii. He is one of their own, a kid who came through their system before he was lured to South Sydney by the promise of an NRL career and The King’s School by the promise of an education.

He comes from a large family who understand more than anything the value of love and community. They have reared a son who is unfailingly polite and humble according to those who know him best.

“He is brilliant at basketball, he played a bit of AFL for a while but didn’t like it,” Williams said.

“He has always been league – he has played since the age of six. Whatever he decides to choose he will succeed at because he is talented and he is so dedicated to what he does.

“Everyone in this district has always looked out for him. He is just polite, he is so humble. He came down the other day and helped some young under 8s with their tackle drills.

“He is just a good young man. He is just a humble kid, a nice kid, and he is embarrassed by all this stuff that is going on.”

What is going on is a tug of war over the hottest property in Australia’s footballing codes. On Friday, as debate raged over Suaalii’s future, South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett and ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys bought into the issue.

Bennett questioned the pressure that was being placed on the 16-year-old. V’landys questioned how the Australian Rugby Union could be spending so much money – they have rejected claims they have tabled a $3 million offer to Suaalii – in this financial climate.

For both codes, it is viewed as long-term investment in a player who is widely regarded as that most valuable of commodities – a can’t miss.

Mark Horo, who spent nearly a decade with Parramatta, Wests and Auckland, has known Suaalii for six years or so, coaching him at Glenmore Park. He has seen a generation of stars emerge in the west. None have excited him as much as Suaalii.

“My son Justin used to go down and help out – that is how the relationship started,” Horo said.

“He was 12 years old and he threw a pass from his wrong side, it hit the person in his pocket and put him away.

“I was fortunate enough to see Haynesy (Jarryd Hayne) around 12 or 13. Very similar – genetically tall, athletic, loveable.

“He (Suaalii) may have only been 11 – he was taller than the other kids, faster than the other kids. He just needed a cape.

“He was superman. I saw Johnathan Thurston at 19. I remember seeing James Tedesco when he was 17. But Joseph surpasses everything I have seen in the past 30 years.

“The most endearing ingredient, and the thing I like the most, is that the kid is just a wonderful young man.”

Aside from the raw talent, that seems to be the common theme with those who have known Suaalii since he was a kid.

“He came down a couple of weeks ago in the lockdown,” Horo said.

“He wanted to train with the boys. It wouldn’t matter if he was playing for the All Blacks – he would still come down.

“He won’t forget where he is from. No way in the world. He came down a couple of times at the start of the year before the pandemic hit.

“Then when the boys opened about three weeks ago, he came down again. He started training. We started with fitness.

“Right in the middle of our fitness, he was not only leading it but championing it. He led the first couple and then made sure for the last couple he was behind and cheering, and helping, and motivating the guys behind. I don’t want to keep pissing in his pocket, but with him it is worth it.”

Suaalii has a big decision to make. Either way, he will walk away a wealthy young man.

“At 17, he has been schooled beautifully, good scholarship, great parents,” Horo said.

“I hope the world doesn’t poison him. The reason we are talking about him now are the reasons we want to be talking about him in the future.”