Joseph Suaalii won’t help Wallabies beat All Blacks, says Roosters teammate

Hooker Brandon Smith has questioned whether Rugby Australia’s decision to sign his Sydney Roosters teammate Joseph Suaalii on a big-money contract will move the Wallabies any closer to their former glory.

Speculation Suaalii could hop codes has followed the former schoolboy rugby star since before he made his NRL debut as a 17-year-old in 2021.

On Saturday, Rugby Australia confirmed it had signed Suaalii to a three-year contract worth around $1.6m a year that will have him available for the Waratahs at Super Rugby level, as well as the Wallabies in next year’s British & Irish Lions series and at the 2027 World Cup.

The outside back is one of the most popular young players in rugby league and is poised to become the new face of a sport battling to attract similar ratings and domestic crowds as its rival football codes.

But New Zealand-born Smith doubted whether Suaalii’s inclusion would improve the Wallabies’ on-field performance enough to compete with the powerhouses of world rugby.

Australia won only five of 14 Tests in 2022 and now sit seventh on the World Rugby rankings.

“Super stoked for him, he’s an amazing talent and rugby really got a gem there,” Smith said. “[But] a $1.6m winger from the Roosters isn’t going to help you beat the All Blacks.

“Like [ARL Commission chair] Peter V’landys said, ‘go over, get that easy money and then come back to the real sport’. That $1.6m could’ve been spent better on the grassroots of rugby.”

Newly minted Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has made no secret of wanting to entice ex-schoolboy players back to rugby since replacing Dave Rennie in January.

South Sydney skipper Cameron Murray sits atop his wishlist, while other ex-schoolboy rugby stars in the NRL include Angus Crichton, Taane