'I wanted to stay': Why Suliasi Vunivalu rejected the NRL for the Wallabies
Despite his limited pro rugby experience, Suliasi Vunivalu says playing in four NRL grand finals with Melbourne means he can handle the pressure of a Wallabies debut in the England test series next month.
The 26-year-old winger is finally injury-free and eager to get his international career started ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
With Marika Koroibete a Wallabies test certainty, Vunivalu’s selection would see the Fiji-born duo reunited as a wing pair for the first time since the 2016 NRL grand final, which the Storm lost to Cronulla.
Koroibete then switched to rugby union, with Vunivalu following him at the end of 2020.
Australia haven’t beaten England in their last eight attempts, but Vunivalu says he’s ready for the challenge if he gets the nod from Wallabies coach Dave Rennie with the first test in Perth on July 2.
“100 percent – I’ll back myself every time,” Vunivalu said on Tuesday from the Wallabies camp, after announcing he’d signed on until after the World Cup.
“If he (Rennie) has that belief in me and wants to throw me in there I will back myself to play.”
Vunivalu’s code switch has been hampered by hamstring troubles which have limited him to 15 Super Rugby games over two years.
He says he has unfinished business, which is why he rejected a lucrative return to the NRL.
“There was talks about me going back to the NRL but I wanted to stay as I haven’t really done anything in union,” Vunivalu said.
“I want to prove myself and try to make my goal of going to the World Cup.”
He believes the injuries are behind him, crediting former Storm high performance director Dean Benton, who holds the same role with the Wallabies.
The pair spent a year together at Melbourne in 2016, before Benton joined Eddie Jones for a two-year stint with the the England rugby team.
Benton had previously worked with the Australian side in the build-up to the 2015 World Cup, where they made the final.
Vunivalu admitted he hit a mental low due to his injury battles, but he now felt back to his best.
“When I did my second hamstring, I really struggled,” he said.
“This year it’s all different … Dean and them have been helping me throughout and that shows, playing six or seven games straight.
“I worked with him after my second surgery for three months and it’s been awesome and I’ve never felt so good with my hamstring before.”
Vunivalu said he had leaned on Koroibete, among the world’s best wingers, since his code switch.
He said the Wallabies coaches wanted to see him improve his work-rate off the ball, something Koroibete is renowned for.
“Since my first time in (camp), he’s been the player that I go to and ask tips,” Vunivalu said.
“His work ethic on the field speaks for itself.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments