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Drew Mitchell's biggest worry over Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii
By Josh Raisey
Former Australia wing Drew Mitchell has responded to speculation that Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii could shift to full-back to cover for the injured Tom Wright against Argentina this weekend by raising concerns that the Wallabies are “going to keep chopping and changing him too much”.
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While his brief Wallabies career to date has seen the 22-year-old primarily deployed as an outside centre, he has been used as a full-back for the NSW Waratahs, but Mitchell would rather he was allowed to “grow into” his role in the midfield.
Joe Schmidt does need to find someone to plug the hole at full-back left by Wright, who faces a long spell out with an ACL injury. But Mitchell would prefer Andrew Kellaway to start in the No.15 jersey rather than a backline reshuffle.
Mitchell’s former team-mate Adam Ashley-Cooper, however, is keen on the idea of Suaalii changing positions ahead of the clash with the Pumas in Townsville in round three of the Rugby Championship.
“I’d like to see him at the back, I just think it will grow his game as a No.13 – because we all know he’s going to end up there,” Ashley-Cooper said on RugbyPass TV’s Kick Offs and Kick Ons.
“I think there’s a lot of growth opportunity for Joseph to maybe be at the back, and also it would get his hands on the ball in a lot more space. Something that we’ve struggled with over the last four or five Tests is the aerial pursuit, defusing the bombs, so winning the aerial game.”
“That’s not on our full-backs, it’s on our 10s,” Mitchell replied. “So Joseph being at full-back won’t negate where we’ve been struggling because the 10s are still going to be back there.
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“I just worried that we’re going to keep chopping and changing him too much.
“It’s only one change – Wright out, Kellaway in. Whereas if you put Joseph back there, there’s another couple of changes. Probably [Len] Ikitau will go from 12 to 13, Hunter Paisami to 12, so there are three changes. They’ve just started to establish their rhythm together.
“I would just keep him at 13. It’s a topic that we always talk about – where’s his best position? He’s gone from 13 on the first spring tour, then to full-back at the Waratahs, then 13 with the Wallabies, now he’s maybe going back to full-back. There’s just a lot of change.
“Jordan Petaia as well. When he came in, no one knew where to play him, and he didn’t find a home. He’s now come back and playing in Perpignan, people still don’t know if he’s a 13 or a winger or a full-back because he just never had long periods of time in one position. Sometimes I think you’ve just got to bite the bullet and say this is his position and let him grow into it.”
Matt Giteau, meanwhile, stressed the importance of getting the former NRL star involved more.
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He said: “I do think we need to find a way to let him have more impact. He’s not really changing a game the way a marquee probably should in these Tests. He’s still been good, and he’s solid in his game, but I would like to see more out of him with the ball.
“Maybe we just need to change that first phase picture a little bit, where we can get him involved more.”
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