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Young gun Joseph Suaalii has declared himself ready for the big time after making a splash for the Roosters’ feeder team on Saturday.
The 17-year-old scored two tries for the North Sydney Bears in a pre-season game against Canberra’s reserve grade side in Queanbeyan, and is eyeing off an NRL debut later this year as the most talked about rugby league talent in years continues to dominate headlines.
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The teenager was at the centre of a tug of war between rugby union and league for his services, the high school student eventually choosing to pursue the 13-man code. He then left Souths to join arch-rivals the Roosters, and the tri-colours are trying to convince the NRL to change eligibility rules that would allow Suaalii to debut before turning 18, such is the hype surrounding him.
He was supposed to speak publicly to the media for the first time on Monday morning but the size of the press pack was so big, Suaalii instead conducted one-on-one interviews with various outlets.
“I have a lot to prove on the footy side and learning outside of footy. But I feel as though I am ready (for the NRL),” Suaalii told The Daily Telegraph.
“But it is in their hands so I don’t have much control over it.”
The outside noise and pressure of expectation doesn’t appear to be rattling the schoolboy sensation either.
“I am aware it is there but I’m not really … you know what I mean, I am not really into it. I just try and be a kid and play footy,” he said.
Suaalii told the Sydney Morning Herald he is prepared “physically and mentally” for the NRL, even though the weekend’s hit-out was his first since 2019.
In one of the most highly-anticipated pre-season debuts ever, the 1.96m Suaalii, described as a “once-in-a-generation” talent, delivered on the hype when he played the entire first half in the centres for the Bears, bagging a double.
His first try came off the back of a bomb to the Roosters right edge before the ball popped out and gifted Suaalii a two-on-one opportunity 20m out from the line.
Instead of passing to an unmarked winger, Suaalii charged at the Raiders winger and rode the contact through a nice 360-degree pirouette before planting the ball over the line.
His second try came in the second half with a bewildering right foot step five metres from the tryline before a quick push with his left to charge over between two defenders.
The former union star made a try-saving tackle in the first half, but hobbled off in the second half with severe cramps.
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