Report: Rugby Australia targetting Origin star with fresh NRL raid to boost Wallabies

Rugby Australia is reportedly looking to sign multiple NRL players including an Origin star in a bid to boost the Wallabies ahead of the 2025 Lions tour and the 2027 home Rugby World Cup according to a report by Fox Sports.

The Wallabies have successfully recruited league targets in the past, more recently developing wing Tom Wright while former Storm winger Suliasi Vunivalu made his Wallabies debut in the third test against England over the weekend.

On the ‘hit list’ for Rugby Australia is NSW Blues five-eighth Matt Burton, who was involved in a stoush with Queensland Maroons centre Dane Gagai in the final Origin decider, who is a former schoolboy rugby player who can play multiple positions.

All Blacks players react to third test against Ireland

All Blacks players react to third test against Ireland

His spiral bomb in the third Origin captivated audiences globally as one of the highest kicks ever made in either rugby code, highlighting the potential of his kicking game should he move to union.

Burton’s current NRL deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs expires at the end of this year and he is reportedly unwilling to re-sign with the club on a one-year deal but he is expected to come with a hefty price tag of $1 million plus a year for a code switch.

“Burton is on the hit list created by Rugby Australia’s high performance committee for Andy Marinos,” McLennan told Fox Sports Australia.

The other candidate floated as a target is former Australian schoolboy Joseph Suaalii, who was involved in a bidding war between NRL clubs and Rugby Australia as a teenager attending King’s College in Sydney.

Suaalii has a background in Union have played at high school and he represented the Australian schoolboys rugby union side in 2019 as a 16-year-old but opted to sign with the Roosters in 2020.

Rugby Australia established a ‘Fighting Fund’ in 2018 to help retain some of the brightest young talents coming up through the game in order to try and compete against NRL clubs but missed out on Suaalii the first time around.