The making of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: How Sydney Roosters star became one of the most physically gifted athletes in Australian sport

From punching out as many push-ups as he could at age 10, to working out in a backyard gym made of scraps, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s ascent to the top owes as much to an unquenchable work ethic as any God-given traits. Inside the making of the Roosters star.

Sydney Roosters superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii reckons he was 10 or 11 when he started punching out as many push-ups as he could and taking himself on lung-busting runs around the local streets.

It was around the same time that Suaalii decided he wanted to be a professional athlete and his pursuit of greatness didn’t end with push-ups and sweat sessions.

Suaalii would work out in a backyard gym that he and his father had pulled together by collecting items that were being thrown out by residents around their local neighbourhood in western Sydney.

Weekends would be spent from dusk to dawn at the local park - Chad Towns Reserve - practising his kicking. Suaalii may be one of the most physically gifted young athletes in Australian sport but his ascent to the top owes as much to an unquenchable work ethic as any God-given traits.

Suaalii learned the value of hard work from watching his mother and father, honing it from a young age after deciding that he would pursue his dream as hard as he now chases a Luke Keary bomb.

“It was weird - when I was maybe like 10 or 11, I used to wake up and just do heaps of push ups and stuff like that,” Suaalii said.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii alongside Will Penisini as youngsters. Picture: Supplied

A star in the making.

“I would go for runs. Push-ups, runs - I was always doing something. I made a gym at the back of my house.

“So my old man and I used to drive around on Sundays and do like collections. You know how people put stuff out the front.

“We never bought weights or anything like that but we would always drive to see what we could pick up and put out the back.

“From there, we made the home gym. That’s kind of how it started. I’d always drag my little brother and do passing skills with him.

“He was only young, really young, but he’d be my catching bag and then I would get my old man to come and kick the ball.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has emerged from a 10-year-old push-up machine into a sensational footy athlete. Picture: NRL Photos

“I was always about a lot of hard work. Sometimes I would go too far with it but obviously now (I am) just finding that balance between spending a lot of time with loved ones and all that, but when it’s time to work hard, work hard.

“I feel like that’s always been in me since I’ve been 10 of 11. I’ve known what I wanted to do with my life.”

Every game could be Suaalii’s last for the Roosters as he prepares to make one of the most high-profile code switches in Australian sport.

When the Roosters season is over, he will move to rugby union on a contract worth upwards of $5.4 million for the next three years.

Rugby union won’t be twiddling their thumbs - plans are already afoot for Sua’ali’i to join the Wallabies on their spring tour of Europe.

Suaalii's sublime tap on to Tupou.

For the moment, his priority is ending his time at the Roosters with a premiership and the Melbourne Storm the latest impediment in the club’s title quest.

The Roosters have a woeful record against the Storm but Suaalii isn’t ready for his time at the club to come to an end at a sold-out AAMI Park on Friday night.

“I’ve obviously been blessed with a lot of different things but I feel like my biggest strength is when it is time to work hard, I put my head down and work hard,” Suaalii said.

“Honestly, I used to spend all day at Chad Towns Reserve just kicking. I reckon I would leave in the morning - especially when it’s like school holidays - and get there at around 9am.

Suaalii the aerial threat.

“Mum and dad would always know where I was - they would go shopping and always see me in the field.

“Now I’m more measured in what I do - how I recover and stuff like that. When you’re young, you don’t really worry about anything like that.

“I was always watching what my old man did or how patient my mom was. How, she’s got eight kids, but everyday she’s very, very calm.

Suaalii puts up the bumper bars

“Nothing really fazes her. My old man is the same - they are both very calm humans, nothing really fazes them. They’re always trying to help other people.”

“They don’t really give me advice or anything like that, it’s just something I really observe from other people.”

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii knows the impact he has on the next generation. Picture: NRL Imagery

Suaalii is intent on providing a similar example to a generation of sports fans. He recognises he has the power to make a difference and he wants to use it to inspire.

“I feel like …. you know that you are the oldest - especially the oldest male in the family - that you’ve got a role of providing and taking care and making sure that the younger ones are looking up to you,” Suaalii said.

“I feel like I did that as well when I was in school. I feel like every time I was there I knew subconsciously that the younger kids are going to look up to you, not just because of your good footy player, but you’re a good human as well.

“Rugby’s a world wide game and you know, playing South Africa, Japan, you’re going to play over in France, I feel like that’s a great way to obviously play great footy, but also be a great person because you have an impact on a lot of young kids or someone watching the game.

“You never know who’s watching. I wouldn’t say I’m the face of rugby or anything like that but I feel like if I just stick to being who I am, knowing who I am, everything else will take care of itself.”

Originally published as The making of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: How Sydney Roosters star became one of the most physically gifted athletes in Australian sport