The 21-year-old $5 million man has been trading cross-code intel with new Roosters teammate and rugby convert Mark Nawaqanitawase in his final weeks at Moore Park.
Joseph Suaalii did not watch the Wallabies’ swift demise in Santa Fe. “I know they went well in the first half,” he says of Saturday’sSuaalii is broadly correct, in that Australia held a 20-3 lead before conceding 64 points over the following 50 minutes. It is hard to tell if it’s a good or a bad thing that he did not see the capitulation for himself, given the 21-year-old will actually be in Wallabies camp within six weeks.
“I’m going on that spring tour at end of the year, I know that, but I’m not sure when my first game will be.” But like he already said, Suaalii is not thinking about any of that – even if he has made a point of trading cross-code intel with new Roosters teammate and rugby convert Mark Nawaqanitawase.Nawaqanitawase is already the subject of high praise after scoring a banging try on debut against South Sydney, little more than a month after representing Australia in sevens at the Olympics, and Suaalii believes it proves that “footy is footy … it’s just about playing”.
“I feel like the travel is something I’m looking forward to as a 21-year-old kid,” he says, before correcting himself. “Not kid – man. I call myself a kid still.” “Coming into pre-season, I just wanted to put my head down and work hard,” he says. “Then playing a lot of games, and then having that Origin game – I feel like I’ve learned a lot from that game as well, just learned a lot about myself. I’ve grown a lot throughout the year, and I feel ready and peaking to go on Friday night.”
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