IT’S A MEASURE of Joseph Suaalii’s impact in just three appearances for the Wallabies that his injury on Sunday against Scotland was met with such dismay among Australian supporters.
Some even felt that Suaalii being forced off in the first half with a potentially serious injury meant their hopes of beating Ireland in Dublin this Saturday had gone up in smoke.
The initial mutterings were foreboding. Stan Sport, the Aussie TV station, reported that outside centre Suaalii may have broken his wrist and might be facing a couple of months out of action.
But the forecast has improved in the days since, with optimism growing that Suaalii could be fit to take on Ireland in the Wallabies’ final game of the year.
It would be a huge boost for Joe Schmidt’s men to have the 21-year-old available. He made his debut three weekends ago, backed by Schmidt at outside centre against England soon after his lucrative move across from rugby league.
Within minutes of kick-off at Twickenham, it was clear that Suaalii was up to the challenge of switching into union, which he played as a schoolboy before becoming a star in the NRL with the Sydney Roosters.
Having played international league with Samoa, the 6ft 5ins specimen took to union like a duck to water. His astounding leaping power helped him win Aussie kicks back in the air against the English, he made powerful carries, showed his classy handling skills, and defended with aggression and accuracy. It was a superb debut.
He rotated out of the number 13 shirt for the win over Wales but returned against Scotland and had made a strong start before being injured while tackling Sione Tuipulotu.
The pair of them had a prolonged exchange of words immediately after the collision, Suaalii showing his fiery streak as he seemingly told Tuipulotu “I’ll see you next year” for the Lions series in Australia.
The initial downbeat reports on his injury have now been replaced by excitement that Suaalii might be in Schmidt’s Wallabies team when he names it on Thursday. Ireland will face a tougher test if the Aussies’ new star is good to go.
“He adds quite a lot, you know, the aerial threat he brings to the game,” said Wallabies scrum-half Jake Gordon in Dublin this afternoon.
“I think you saw very early on the weekend, especially that England game, I guess his ability to get the restarts back. He’s a big, tall, strong guy, he can sort of get his hand free in contact and he goes bloody hard as well.
“Like if he’s gonna run, he’s gonna run hard. He tackles hard too like you saw on the weekend.
“But I think his adjustment has been unreal, you know? I think he’s looked right at home.
“And he’s also a guy who’s really keen to learn as well. He sort of came into the environment, spent a lot of time learning the detail around rugby, and I’m happy for him to be at the Waratahs with me next year as well.”
Suaalii was only 17 when he made his NRL debut for the Roosters in 2021 and he looked at home from the off, being named Winger of the Year at the end of his second season.
In May of this year, he debuted for New South Wales in the first game of the State of Origin, a huge series in rugby league, but was red-carded just seven minutes into the game. It was a rare blip in his highly impressive few years in league.
It was an expensive move for Rugby Australia, but luring Suaalii across to union was a big coup and his instant impact has created excitement in the Aussie game.
Suaalii only turned 21 in August but the teetotaller is regarded as wise beyond his years.
“It’s kind of weird,” said Wallabies and Waratahs prop Isaac Kailea. “He’s very mature and he’s super competitive.
“So any games, card games especially that this guy [Jake Gordon] organises, yeah, he’s very competitive. Always wants to win.
“I think you see that out in the field, but yeah, that’s probably mature, competitive and quite chill as well, which is a bit of a weird mix, but I think he sorts it out.”
Suaalii will be looking to sort out a few Irishmen if he makes it this weekend.
Watched his red card on you tube, nice decapitation attempt, Gordon Tallis would’ve been proud. Gotta love the State of Origin, occasionally a bit of rugby brakes out.
Are we genetically incapable of producing men like him? Mc Carthy and prendergast look like children in comparison.
@James Murphy: Baird
@James Murphy: Cormac Izuchukwu
@Michael Corkery: Ye, both of them are tall men with outrageous speed, but they’re not monsters in size in comparison to other nations .
@Owen ODonoghue: If Suallii tackled Baird, Baird would go off on a stretcher. NRL is a much more physical code than union.
@Caballo Blanco: Suaalii managed to jump higher than Maro Itoje who was being lifted by team mates and reclaim a couple of restarts. Serious athletes some of these NRL boys.
@James Murphy: joe mcCarthney is a tank
Will be interesting to see how his career develops. I watch a fair bit of NRL in the season and don’t think he was anywhere near a top star in the code. Not even a standout in his club (Sydney Roosters), really. That said, to be selected for the State of Origin says a lot; and he is only 21(?). No doubt at all that he made a huge splash against England, but I think he’s a big beneficiary of the change in Law/interpretation on challenging up and unders, which favours RL tactics and his own physical attributes.