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Opinion
You can bet your bottom dollar that there will be some sort of backlash if Joseph Suaalii is picked to play for NSW this year now that he’s signed with Rugby Australia.
Cheapens the jersey, he’s a traitor, choose someone who’s going to be around long term, and so forth.
But if he’s the best option for the Blues, he should be selected.
After surrendering the State of Origin shield last year to a Maroons side led by someone with no senior coaching experience in Billy Slater, it’s no time to be high and mighty when it comes to team selections at Blues HQ.
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Particularly for Brad Fittler who is off contract after this series but can trigger an extension for next year with a series win.
Joseph Suaalii warms up during a Blues training session. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
As it stands though, Suaalii is probably unlikely to get a spot for NSW even though he was part of the extended squad last year as the Blues brains trust gave him a glimpse of Origin life.
Just like at club level, his preferred fullback spot is under lock and key to one James Tedesco and even if he’s injured, Tom Trbojevic, Latrell Mitchell, Dylan Edwards and Clint Gutherson would be ahead of Suaalii in the queue.
Suaalii is playing centre for the Roosters this year but Trbojevic and Mitchell will be the combination for Origin I in Adelaide on May 31 unless injuries or suspension get in the way.
That leaves the wing as his only viable option for a starting spot but Panthers star Brian To’o is as close as there can be to a lock for one berth on the flanks.
Suaalii was one of the two Dally M Wingers of the Year in 2022 alongside Alex Johnston but Fittler is a big fan of his Roosters teammate Daniel Tupou, using him for all three games last year ahead of Josh Addo-Carr, who then dazzled for the Kangaroos at the World Cup at the end of the season in the UK.
It’s hard to see Suaalii getting in ahead of these three but Fittler has a tendency to toss in a left-field selection or two annually so the 19-year-old could leapfrog Tupou if The Foxx is still in the doghouse.
Despite his versatility, a bench spot would be extremely unlikely as Origin sides tend to pick someone who can cover hooker and the halves or a back-rower who can slot into the centres if injuries strike during the game.
Fittler is taking a pragmatic approach after being asked about Suaalii on the Wide World of Sports program on Sunday.
“We’ll pick the squad in eight weeks time today,” he said. “And if he’s available, he’ll be considered. Listening to Trent Robinson and the way he’s gone about the decision to go to rugby union, he’s very open, very transparent. He came through playing league and union and there’s an opportunity in a couple of years to progress into the next World Cup.
“He just seems to be one of those athletes at the moment that has plenty on offer and also on the other hand, there’s plenty to offer them.”
For any player to truly establish themselves as an elite star in rugby league, they have to make their mark in Origin. Test footy is the ultimate individual honour and the playoff series is where teams show their true mettle but the interstate contest is how NRL players measure themselves against the best of the best.
Suaalii has been compared to Israel Folau in many ways and certainly has the athletic prowess to follow his lead by becoming a potent attacking weapon in rugby.
Folau, like Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers before him, had starred at Origin level – coincidentally all for the Maroons – before switching codes.
There were all sorts of screaming headlines about Queensland continuing to pick Folau in 2010 after he’d announced his ill-fated but lucrative switch to try his hand (and occasionally his feet) in the AFL as a marquee recruit/publicity stuntman with the fledgling GWS Giants.
Suaalii still has plenty of time to reinforce his enormous potential in league before making the jump to the 15-player code at the end of next year and if he continues on his current trajectory, he can achieve a lot for the Roosters as well as Samoa when the World Cup runners-up regroup in October.
It will be interesting to see how NRL fans react to his departure if he’s been very good but not dominant over the next 18 months.
The confected outrage over players hopping between codes has certainly died down since Sonny Bill Williams criss-crossed between the Bulldogs, All Blacks and Roosters in five stints during his unprecedented and ultra-modern career.
These athletes are not disloyal if they join one sport over the other – pretty much every professional sports star was elite in more than one field growing up. Why shouldn’t they try their luck in a couple during the decade or so (if they’re lucky) of their peak earning potential, especially between two sports which are long lost siblings like league and union, who live separate lives because of the decisions made by their distant ancestors.
The reason most players have chosen rugby over league or vice versa come down to family and geographical reasons, as well as which one they were better at doing in their formative years.
Rugby has been at a distinct financial disadvantage over the past decade in Australia, meaning schoolboy talents with a foot in each camp like Suaalii, Cameron Murray, Patrick Carrigan and Angus Crichton opted for the greater opportunity in league.
Joseph Suaalii. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
There has not only been more money but way more roster spots in the NRL compared to the five (briefly four) Super Rugby franchises.
And that won’t change in the next decade even with Rugby Australia boosting its coffers from hosting a British & Irish Lions tour in two years then men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments.
Despite coach Eddie Jones salivating over the prospect of getting Murray into a Wallabies No.12 jersey when his Souths deal expires at the end of 2025, it is unlikely RA will be willing or able to make another seven-figure splash in the NRL talent pool.
Not due to a lack of funds but because it would be considered a bad look to be forking out huge sums for mungo mercenaries instead of paying their existent rugby talent what they’re worth or investing money in the junior, women’s and community club programs crying out for more resources.
And if rugby’s reinvigorated decision-makers get a few more NRL players to jump ship, so be it. As the Plow King, aka Barney Gumbel, told Homer “Mr Plow” Simpson: “There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition.”
Although he did then shoot out his tyres with improbable aim so perhaps he’s not an authority on the matter of loyalty.
League did have the best part of nine decades poaching rugby talent before the antiquated amateur tradition was finally removed to create a level playing field of professionalism.
Players, who after all are the ones that bring the dollars into sport, should be able to reap the rewards by signing the best deal on offer without