NRL won't open war chest to stop rugby union defections

Andrew Abdo has declared the NRL will not open a war chest to stop players moving to rugby union, claiming he is unfazed by Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s defection.

Suaalii has signed a three-year deal with Rugby Australia to move to the 15-man code from October 2024, after his management informed the Sydney Roosters he would leave the club next year.

The shift will allow Suaalii to play for Australia against the British & Irish Lions in 2025, with a World Cup ahead in 2027, while representing the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby.

His move is rugby’s biggest coup out of the NRL in two decades, after Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri all crossed codes in the early 2000s.

Several years later, league great Israel Folau made his own high-profile move to rugby via a brief spell in the AFL.

The NRL experimented with the idea of a war chest to stop players from leaving the code in 2014, with the plan first floated by then chief executive David S mith.

The financial package was never used and current CEO Abdo said there was no need to reintroduce the scheme to retain players tempted by the lure of rugby money.

“The beauty is, we don’t have to,” Abdo told ABC Radio.

“We have increased funding to clubs so we have viable clubs. And the commission have focused on making sure the salary in our new offer is a significant increase.

“The salary cap level that it is at the moment, and the growth for men and women, we are going to be attracting athletes of the future. That is exciting.”

Abdo stressed he had no concerns about a talent drain to rugby, after months of threats by new Wallabies coach Eddie Jones to lure the 13-man game’s best players.

“Good luck to any player who wants to go and play another code, that’s great for them,” Abdo said.

“Good luck to any other code, if they are thinking about a rugby league pathway to access talent.

“We are focused on our pathway. We want to make sure we have young p eople in schools and clubs.

“This game, what I love about it, is how many talented athletes we keep producing across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.”

Roosters teammate Luke Keary said he expected Suaalii to follow a similar path to Sonny Bill Williams, who had two stints in both codes.

“We know this is happening, and good on him,” Keary told Triple M.

“His main thing is he wants to win a premiership. He hasn’t spoken about rugby too much. I know he is all-in with us.

“We are about to see a Sonny Bill-esque type career. He finishes that World Cup if he goes, he will be 24 years old. Hopefully we see him again in the NRL after that.”

In a statement on Saturday, Suaalii pledged to continue giving his all to the Roosters for the duration of his time with the club.

“There’s still a long way to go in my journey with the Roosters and my sole focus is on working hard every day to keep improving and performing my role for the team,” he said.