Not a kid anymore: Suaalii expects to be on Wallabies plane to Europe

MELBOURNE : Australian rugby’s high-priced recruit Joseph Suaalii has not been paying much attention to the Wallabies’ plight while finishing up with the Sydney Roosters but expects to be included on the season-ending tour of Europe with Joe Schmidt’s team.
The 21-year-old said he had not watched the Wallabies’ record 67-27 defeat by Argentina in Santa Fe over the weekend while busy preparing for the Roosters’ coming clash with Penrith in the National Rugby League (NRL) playoffs.
“I know they went well in the first half,” he told Australian media.
“But I think the second half wasn’t the best.”
The outside back has played for the Roosters since 2021 and made his NRL debut after the league gave him an exemption to play before turning 18.
In a three-year deal signed in 2023 and worth a reported A$5 million ($3.34 million), Suaalii committed to playing rugby union with the New South Wales Waratahs – and Australia if selected – at the end of the current NRL season.
While having never played a professional game in the 15-man code, Suaalii is certain he will slot straight into Schmidt’s squad.
“I’m going on that (Wallabies) spring tour at end of the year, I know that, but I’m not sure when my first game will be,” he said.
Suaalii’s final season at the Roosters has coincided with former Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase’s first at the Sydney team.
Nawaqanitawase scored a stunning try on his NRL debut last weekend to rub salt in the wounds of Wallabies fans who had lamented his defection to the 13-man game.
Suaalii, who was eligible to represent Samoa at the rugby league World Cup in 2022 through his father, said he had swapped notes with Nawaqanitawase about switching codes and hoped to make a similarly quick impact in rugby union.
“You saw Mark, what he did. He came across and he looks natural, so hopefully I can do the same,” he said.
“I’ve asked him a little bit of questions. He’s asked me a little bit of questions, too. I feel like it’s a natural conversation.
“It’s just been about what’s the travel (like) or what’s the training but nothing really in-depth.
“I feel like the travel is something I’m looking forward to as a 21-year-old kid,” he added.
“Not kid – man. I call myself a kid still.”
($1 = 1.4972 Australian dollars)