Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii could be the next great Wallaby like David Campese and Israel Folau

He’s the footballing prodigy who had the makings of an NRL superstar before Rugby Australia put down a massive down payment on him becoming a Wallabies legend.

Few sporting debuts have received as much hype as Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s after he played a key role in the Wallabies’ 42-37 boilover win over England at Twickenham to get Australia’s spring tour off to the perfect start.

Rusted on rugby fans, and those wanting to find out what all the fuss is about, will get their second look at Suaalii when he suits up against the beleaguered Welsh on Sunday night.

The 21-year-old already had reached great heights in the NRL playing State of Origin — albeit briefly after being infamously sent-off just minutes into his Blues debut for flooring Reece Walsh.

Now he is being compared to other great NRL-rugby converts Israel Folau, Lote Tuqiri and Sonny Bill Williams as well as Wallaby great David Campese.

He is not just good, he could be a game changer for rugby — after its two decades in the doldrums of Australian sport — and attract a new generation of fans wanting to be just like Joe.

The $5 million price tag to lure him to the 15-man game is looking like a sound investment with the man who signed him saying he might be worth twice that already.

The skillset he developed playing rugby league on the wing was on full display against the English with his high jumping aerobatics proving a major difference in wining possession at key moments.

He also showed he was not afraid of doing the hard yards by making some key tackles and putting his body on the line with some aggressive offensive moves.

His debut was not without blemish, with some costly errors in his defensive reads, but he more than made up for it with a great try assist to send Tom Wright over.

Suaalii is no bolt from the blue, with his signature having been one of the most sought after by both rugby league and rugby as he starred playing rugby at The King’s School, Parramatta.

He was playing both for the Australian Schoolboys rugby team as well as South Sydney’s Harold Matthews team in 2018 when the hype around his talent reached fever pitch

Rugby Australia first came knocking in 2020 with a big money offer to rival the one made by Souths to keep him at the NRL club long-term, but it was the Sydney Roosters who secured his services by agreeing to a get out clause that Suaalii could play at the Tokyo Olympics in rugby sevens — an option he did not take up.

The move to take less money paid off with Suaalli — who was granted an age exemption in 2021 by the NRL to play while still aged 17 — steadily rising through the ranks at Bondi to be named the Dally M Winger of the Year in 2022.

Months later Rugby Australia announced its massive coup in March 2023, when it was revealed Suaalii had signed a three-year deal from 2025 to 2027 (inclusive of the 2027 World Cup in Australia) for a reported average annual salary of $1.6 million. The deal dwarfed what the best-paid players in the NRL earn.

His last two years in the NRL were dominated by debate over whether he should be allowed to play State of Origin given his defection and if he had made a staggeringly bad career choice.

One person who definitely did think he had was former Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan.

McLennan aggressively pursued Suaalii, a move which ultimately cost him his job with others in the Rugby Australia hierarchy not believing it was money well spent. That and the diabolical decision to rehire Eddie Jones which led to the disastrous World Cup campaign last year.

McLennan believes Suaalii can be the next Campese.

“It’s clear there were a lot of people who didn’t like it. But deep down I knew this guy was a freak talent and that we had to get him and we had to make a statement and it’s worked a treat,” he told The Roar.

“What’s also interesting is that all of his rugby league mates are wanting to know how it’s going. And for a debut, you couldn’t have got better than what happened. As well-run an organisation as the NRL is, that was their worst nightmare, what happened on Saturday night.”

In the euphoria of Sualli’s debut this week McLennan also claimed several high-profile NRL players, including Nathan Cleary, had enquired through a third party about a code switch for the 2027 World Cup.

Suaalii became only the third Australian player to play for the Wallabies before his State after Matt Giteau and Tatafy Polota-Nau.

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt was coy about when Suaalii would make his debut after he was chosen for the squad but had no hesitation blooding him against the Poms.

And Sualli himself shows no indications the pressure will get to him, looking relaxed and carefree at training this week.

“It was for moments like this I came over. It was always a dream of mine to come here, play overseas,” he said after his debut.