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Rugby Australia poised to win million-dollar tug-of-war for the teenage whiz branded as 'incredible' by Sam Burgess
By AAP
Rugby Australia are poised to pull off a mighty coup and win the million-dollar tug-of-war for the services of teenage whiz Joseph Suaalii. RA on Tuesday coyly claimed the deal was "not done yet" after reports surfaced that 16-year-old Suaalii was set to turn his back on a $1.7million offer to remain with NRL club South Sydney for three more years.
Like super-coach Wayne Bennett, Suaalii is contracted to Souths until the end of next season. But the Rabbitohs had hoped to lock down the prodigious talent long term until new Wallabies coach Dave Rennie apparently swooped having hotly pursued Suaalii for Rugby Australia since first trying to sign him in February.
With Souths unable to register the contract with the NRL until Suaalii turned 17 on August 1, Rennie and RA time have seemingly talked the teenager into a late change of heart. But cash-strapped RA has denied promising Suaalii $1m a year.
A gifted all-round sportsman who has also excelled at AFL and basketball, Suaalii stands a towering 196cm and weighs 96kg and spent the off-season training with the Rabbitohs NRL squad.
Souths great turned assistant coach Sam Burgess last month hailed the hulk as incredible. "Look, I hate rapping young kids," Burgess told Fox Sports.
"I've seen him first-hand, training with the first team and forget his athletic ability, what I saw inside Joseph Suaalii that day, I saw (how) we took him to the edge of the cliff and he hung on for dear life and he had the courage of a 25- to a 28-year-old man."
The Rabbitohs offered AAP a "no comment" when contacted on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, former Super Rugby chiefs boss Rennie has suggested his successor as Wallabies coach should ideally be Australian. “The ideal scenario is that the next coach is Australian and there needs to be some thought around that," he told The Australian.
"If there is someone ready to go after the (2023) World Cup, that may be in the best interests of Australian rugby. You can’t think too far ahead in this game. I’m fully committed to the (2023) World Cup but what happens beyond that… there has to be an emphasis around identifying and developing other coaches to coach Australia.”
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Latest Comments
There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.
Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.
Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.
They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.
Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.
Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen
Go to commentsWas it? I just brought it up in some of my posts to rub it in that the AB last year nearly put 100 on a top 6N side lol
I agree to be honest. The biggest key to me that they might be jadded was none of them had mom performances, or even as good as their last three games.
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