Queensland picked Israel Folau. Why wouldn’t NSW pick Joseph Suaalii?

Thank goodness NSW coach Michael Maguire picked Roosters centre Joseph Suaalii for the opening match of this year’s State of Origin series.

If he’d heeded calls to overlook the 20-year-old for signing a $5 million deal with Rugby Australia from next season, it would have been another part of Origin that Queensland apparently do better than NSW.

In 2010, Brisbane Broncos star Israel Folau signed with incoming AFL franchise GWS Giants.

The AFL announced the deal on May 31, with a media conference involving Folau and the Giants’ inaugural coach, Kevin Sheedy, held the next day – six days after Folau had played in the first Origin played for Queensland.

The argument for banning Suaalii from playing Origin goes that to let him play gives Rugby Australia free publicity.

Folau’s decision to take the $6 million on offer to become the face of an ambitious new club in rugby league heartland in Sydney’s west, and then announce it in the middle of the game’s showpiece event, the jewel in the crown as it were, was a dagger through rugby league’s artery-clogged heart.

Spotlight: Joseph Suaalii arrives at the NSW team hotel on Monday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The QRL vetoed Folau’s selection for the rest of the series before hastily backflipping after intense lobbying from coach Mal Meninga and senior players. Brent Tate’s broken jaw may have also helped their argument.

So Folau played the entire series, which the Maroons won 3-0.

The sporting landscape has changed significantly since then, mostly for rugby union, which is no longer the same cashed-up powerhouse that pinched NRL stars Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri in the early 2000s.

(Incidentally, when Sailor signed with Rugby Australia in February 2001, he was still picked for Queensland that year.)

Israel Folau was selected by Queensland in 2010 despite announcing a $6 million switch to AFL in the middle of the series. Credit: Getty Images

Will the sight of Suaalii playing for NSW really give rugby a leg-up? Hardly. He’s already told the Roosters he intends to return to the NRL once his three-year contract ends.

Even ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys, who relishes any opportunity to kick AFL and rugby union whenever he can, is at ease about Suaalii playing.

“The coach’s job is to pick the best team to win,” he said. “That’s all he should worry about.”

Perhaps the more relevant question about Suaalii isn’t about whether he should play but which side of the field will he occupy.

He’s been named in the centres alongside the Bulldogs’ Stephen Crichton, the best in the business.

Both players are equally comfortable playing on the right or left. Crichton was exceptional in Penrith’s grand final win last year playing on the left. His clever little kicks into the in-goal were invaluable late in the game.

But he’s been mostly playing on the right for the Bulldogs this season, and unlike some players who struggle when they leave the three-time defending premiers, his form hasn’t waned.

Maguire would not be drawn on which side Crichton or Suaalii will play, but there’s a school of thought among his coaching staff that Suaalii is better suited to the right – even though he’s played most of this season for the Roosters on the left because Joey Manu has the right centre position stitched up.

Israel Folau during his AFL days.Credit: Getty

Because he’s right-handed and has a right-foot step, he is more comfortable on that side of the field. He’s also less likely to be targeted by inside defenders trying to drive a shoulder into the ball, forcing an error.

That is the real fear I have with this NSW team, which features six debutants and a new captain heading into the opening match at Accor Stadium on June 5 – errors!

Suaalii, who is only in his fourth season in the NRL, has produced some incredible touches in attack this year.

But he can make the odd mistake, whether it’s a dropped ball or conceding a penalty. His defence, though, has improved significantly.

If Maguire does play him on the right edge, he’ll be playing inside fellow rookie and right-winger Zac Lomax, who looms as Maguire’s greatest leap of faith with this side.

Lomax has been in career-best form for the Dragons this season. He has made 2014 metres (fifth in the NRL) from 237 runs (third). But no player in the league has made more errors. Lomax has made 25 so far.

When he threw an errant flick pass coming off his own line in the Anzac Day match against the Roosters, which led to their second try in their 60-18 drubbing, some people within Lomax’s own club reckoned it was enough to end his Origin aspirations.

Now, he could end up on a precarious-looking right edge with fellow rookie Suaalii.

Maguire had options: he could have played Suaalii on the right wing and picked either the Bulldogs’ Matt Burton, the Sharks’ Jesse Ramien or the forgotten man in the NSW conversation, Penrith’s Izack Tago.

If the coach is concerned about it all, he wasn’t giving much away on Monday.

“I met Joseph at the age of 13 and tried to recruit him a long time ago,” Maguire said. “I do know his passion and what rugby league means to him. His future is his future, but at this present moment, we have a job to do. That’s performing and playing for the Blues. I know he’s grown up wanting to do this. I’m living in the moment, and that’s what it is all about.”

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