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Olympics lures Suaalli to rugby

Teen prodigy Joseph Suaalli could be the ‘new Israel Folau’; exactly the kind player to bring the fans back to the game they play in heaven.

Joseph Suaalii is set to turn his back on a rugby league deal with South Sydney
Joseph Suaalii is set to turn his back on a rugby league deal with South Sydney

Joseph Suaalii, set to become the richest Australian teenage athlete ever, wants to be an Olympian.

While representing the Wallabies is part of the attraction, the lure of playing for a gold medal at the Tokyo Games this time next year has 16-year-old footballer creeping closer to signing with Rugby Australia.

RA again rubbished reports that they had offered $3m to the schoolboy sensation — while those close to South Sydney maintain rugby union’s figure is around a $1m a year, way above their $550,000-a-season offer.

What is irrefutable is that Rugby Australia have made the approach to the teen football phenomenon to help spark life into a game that has suffered immensely over the past 18 months.

There is a belief in the rugby hierarchy that Suaalii could bring more to the embattled code than just his brilliant athleticism. He will also attract some much-needed positive attention.

“He’s marketable, isn’t he?” said one Rugby Australia source. “He’s in a league of his own.”

Ever since Israel Folau was sensationally sacked the game has been desperate for a superstar. There’s a feeling among the rugby hierarchy that Suaalii is the man – “the new Israel Folau” (minus the controversy).

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Over the past four months, while South Sydney had been growing confident by the week that they would retain the freakish footballer they have been paying $60,000 a season to under a rookie contract, RA had been quietly hatching a plan to transition him from GPS schoolboys prodigy to Test player and Olympian.

Wallabies director Scott Johnson has led the fight for the teenager’s signature. Johnson has made a number of trips along the M4 to the Suaalii family home near Penrith to meet with the now 198cm, 94kg kid and his parents. Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has also been a leading figure in negotiations.

Back in the Moore Park office, the numbers were being done on how to formulate a lucrative offer to keep the kid in rugby. He is currently a Kings boy and has been in the first XV since Year 9.

While Rugby Australia refused to confirm the amount on offer on Wednesday — The Australian understands the contract on offer is made up of third-party deals and a base Rugby Australia salary. It is also suspected that the Australian Rugby Foundation would also tip in. In the past the ARF helped fund the contracts of David Pocock and Folau to the tune of $300,000 per season. That would not be confirmed by RA.

Rugby Australia’s interim CEO Rob Clarke, who wouldn’t disclose RA’s exact offer, said his organisation couldn’t compete with rugby league on the money front.

“The continued speculation about the financial offer from certain sections of the media is a tired and timeless tactic of attempting to pressure a young man into one choice and how dare anyone have the temerity to choose to play rugby over another option,” Clarke said.

“To be clear, whilst rugby cannot compete financially with our friends in the 13-man game here in Australia, many professional athletes choose to become part of our game because of the many other positive attributes and global opportunities it provides … it’s not all about money.”

Dollars aside, there has never been a junior athlete that has attracted so much attention from all footy codes (he has represented all of them at state level and in basketball).

Even Sydney Swans premiership winning coach John Longmire has watched Suaalii’s rise first-hand. His son and Suaallii are the same age.

“He played NSWPSSA Australian rules with my son,” Longmire said. “He was probably the most impressive athlete at that age I have ever seen. Big, quick and agile. He also played rugby union against my son at school and he could slam dunk a basketball at a young age. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in our Academy zone.”

Not everyone is happy Rugby Australia has made a big approach to Suaalii.

As one player agent said he found it “mind-boggling stupid” and felt “Rugby Australia were being “tone-deaf” in putting so much of their faith and finances in the teenager. There’s unrest among some players at the suggestion millions are being thrown at the kid.

“Read the room,” the agent said. “Players are in a tunnel of pain, everyone is currently looking at a pay cut.”

A Rugby Australia source said they didn’t believe there was “angst” among the players and that players had been in the know about the chase for Suaalii’s signature.

While no one in Australian rugby is keen to elaborate on the exact dollars on the table for Suaalii, numerous sources said it was all about life beyond the game.

Clarke echoed this sentiment and said that rugby offered the “best workplace conditions” in the professional game.

“Rugby Australia develops far more than just athletes but real people who embark on a pathway that does not cease when they are no longer taking the field, you are a part of the rugby family for life,” Clarke said.

The game they play in heaven has been relentlessly criticised of late as boring and the most obvious fact is they need to entice people back to the game. Would a player like Suaalii bring fans through the gate and have them switch on the TVs? Rugby Australia types think so.

“The game needs to entertain more,” another well-placed source said. “He could be a big-ticket item.”

Jessica Halloran
Jessica HalloranChief Sports Writer

Jessica Halloran is a Walkley award-winning sports writer. She has been covering sport for two decades and has reported from Olympic Games, world swimming and athletics championships, the rugby World Cup as well as the AFL and NRL finals series. In 2017 she wrote Jelena Dokic’s biography Unbreakable which went on to become a bestseller.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/olympics-lures-suaalli-to-rugby/news-story/a722579173a0cf10863fe178eae96da1