Suaalii
A teen prodigy and a future star of the game, Joseph Suaalii will play rugby union from 2025. Discover this exciting talent with the rugby gurus at RugbyPass.
Joseph Suaalii
Described as a teen prodigy and perhaps the most exciting player to come from Australia in a generation, Joseph Suaalii will undoubtedly be a star of the game. A player so talented he was granted an exemption to play in the NRL prior to his 18th birthday, Joseph Suaalii is set to ply his trade for the New South Wales Waratahs in 2025 and beyond.
Joseph Suaalii was born in Penrith, Sydney on 1 August 2003. He’s the son of a Samoan father and an Australian mother. During his childhood, he represented both the Glenmore Park Brumbies and the Coogee Wombats in rugby league. During this period of his life, he also set the Australian 12-year-old male high jump record.
By the end of his school years, Joseph Suaalii had become a decorated player who had also represented the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Harold Matthews Cup and the NSW Schoolboys and Australian Schoolboys in rugby sevens.
Then, in mid-2020, reports emerged that Joseph Suaalii had agreed to a multi-million dollar contract with either the Rabbitohs or Rugby Australia (depending on which reports you read).
Finally, on 1 December 2020, after months of speculation about ‘get out clauses’, Joseph Suaalii finally announced that he was signing for the Sydney Roosters effective immediately. As a result, he was released from the final year of his Rabbitohs contract.
Then, in March 2021, the ARL Commission granted Joseph Suaalii an exemption to play in the NRL before turning 18. Due to this, he made his NRL debut at the age of 17 years and 294 days. Only a week later, he scored his first try.
Sadly, Joseph Suaalii’s season was cut short through injury, but he returned in 2022 where he continued to play for the Sydney Roosters. He also represented Samoa at the 2022 Rugby World Cup, where he featured in every game of the tournament.
Then, in round four of the 2023 NRL season, it was announced that Joseph Suaalii would be joining Rugby Australia in 2025. Although he has signed a three-year contract with Rugby Australia worth a reported $1.6 million a year, he will stay at the Roosters until 2024.
As a result, from 2025, Joseph Suaalii is set to switch his attention to rugby union. From this time, he will represent the New South Wales Waratahs.
Although many rugby fans are excited about the fact that Rugby Australia has tempted a supremely marketable and freakishly talented player to switch codes, some have criticised the move and claimed that he should leave the NRL immediately.
With the Waratahs, he will undoubtedly become a star of Super Rugby and take the game by storm. For this reason, many are already predicting that he will be the poster boy for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Whether he reaches his full potential remains to be seen, but we can’t wait to see exactly what Joseph Suaalii can achieve in 2025 and beyond.
