Joseph Suaalii has pledged his allegiance to rugby league, knocking back a rich rugby deal and a quiet South Sydney raid to stay with the Sydney Roosters until at least the end of the 2024 NRL season in one of the deadliest backlines in footy history.
The Roosters faced stiff resistance to keep their 19-year-old wunderkind with the Bunnies ponying up as much as $1,000,000 a season to bring Suaalii back to Redfern—though that deal only hinged on Latrell Mitchell potentially leaving the cardinal and myrtle behind to join Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins from next season.
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The biggest threat was rugby union. Wallabies boss Eddie Jones had set his sights on Suaalii in particular, mainly due to his time with the fifteen-a-side game in his school years.
The former England helmsman wanted to use Suaalii as a star for the future.
Nick Politis and coach Trent Robinson won that battle though. They managed to convince Suaalii to play on in the tricolours alongside proven superstars like James Tedesco, Joey Manu, and Victor Radley and continue learning under their tutelage.
That spot in what may be the deadliest backline rugby league has ever seen—it includes Tedesco, Suaalii, Manu, and Daniel Tupou—was propped up by a $750,000-a-year payday for the youngster.
The negotiations, though, never rest. The Sporting Base understands a multitude of Roosters bosses, including supremo Politis himself, are already hard at work to try and convince Suaalii to stay beyond 2024.
Right now, the 19-year-old has two more years with Easts before he’s a free agent again.
The timing could work out perfectly for the Roosters though; Suaalii has made it clear he wants to eventually earn a fullback spot in the NRL and has already played in the key role at the 2022 World Cup for Samoa all the way to their 30-10 loss in the grand final. That 2024 date lines up perfectly with Tedesco coming off contract.
While The Sporting Base hasn’t heard anything about Sydney shunting their number one at the end of next year, there’s every chance they reshuffle to make sure Suaalii doesn’t leave for a rival or even another code.
The Samoan international originally came through the Rabbitohs junior system.
He made the cross-town swap in 2020 to join the Roosters for a little more in the early-days pay packet. Since then he has cemented himself as an NRL regular at just a very young age.
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