Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s only conversation when he met Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt on the weekend was about family, but the rugby convert has declared he’s “ready” to suit up in a gold jersey as soon as he’s called on.
Suaalii, who rested after a “brutal” final NRL season with the Sydney Roosters, put on a different sky blue jersey in Canberra on Monday as he joined his NSW Waratahs teammates, confident he could handle the attention that has come with his multimillion-dollar deal with Rugby Australia, the biggest in the code’s history.
The 21-year-old, who made his NRL State of Origin debut in 2024 before crossing codes, could be called up to one of two squads Rugby Australia will send overseas in November.
The Wallabies will face England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, while an Australian XV will play English club Bristol Bears and England A.
Suaalii said he was ready for either, having been a schoolboy rugby star, which included some prominent performances in Australia’s series win against New Zealand in 2019 before making the switch to rugby league, adamant only some “finetuning” was needed for him to get back to his rugby roots.
“I played the game at school, just finetuning and getting the skills back that I’ve had in rugby and just being able to play footy,” he said on Monday.
“I love playing footy and I love playing union, so that’s what I’m just looking forward to.
“I’m ready. If they throw me in, I’m ready to go. I’ve always backed myself playing footy. I’ve always backed myself going against anyone, so I’m very confident in my abilities to play.”
Suaalii was equally confident in handling any spotlight on him after making his code switch, having endured similar fanfare when he was weighing up his decision to stay in rugby or join the NRL out of school.
“I’m ready for that, I feel like as a young kid coming to NRL I feel like I had a lot of eyes on me coming through, so it’s no different,” he said.
“I’m just keeping everything simple, just sticking to the process of training every day, getting better every day and just learning from my teammates and just trying to be as best player I can be.”
Suaalii, who looms as a backline weapon for the Wallabies, said he wasn’t locked in to any position, having played in the centres for the Roosters.
“Look, I’ve always been open to playing centre, wing, fullback,” he said.
“If the coach puts me anywhere, I feel like I’m just a footy player at the end of the day. Any position, I’m ready to play. I don’t really have a preferred position.”
Suaalii didn’t get any insight from Wallabies coach Schmidt either, with their initial meeting just a getting to know each other session, with no pressure placed on Suaalii to earn his mega pay packet straight away.
“Honestly, we just spoke about family. We’re just getting to know each other basically. I haven’t really spoken about footy. It’s just been about getting to know each other and getting to know the boys.”
Despite poor recent results for the Wallabies, Suaalii said her had no regrets about his move, adamant the future for the national team was bright.
“I feel like I’m a competitor and that’s what I want to do is win. I feel like that’s just the natural thing that this group wants to do,” he said.
“I feel like I can bring my competitiveness on the field and it just starts by training, by training every day and just getting in and competing.
“I feel like we’ve got a lot of quality boys in the team. We’ve had a couple of good games against Wales. Obviously, a couple of losses to South Africa, Argentina, and
then the All Blacks too.
“But there’s a strong base here at the Wallabies, and I’m just very keen to be a part of the team, and I’m very confident in the team too.”
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