'The numbers discussed, there's no way they can be true' - Turinui dismisses Suaalii deal figures
Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui says the Rugby Australia contract offer to teen sensation Joseph Suaalii is likely to be a fraction of the AU$3 million number being bandied around the Australian press.
It was reported last week that RA had made the offer and captured Suaalii from under the noses of the NRL’s South Sydney Rabbitohs, who had themselves offered the 16-year-old an unprecedented $1.7 million dollars. Likened to a young Israel Folau, the 6’5, 96kg 16-year-old Sydney teen is a 2019 Australian under-18s representative who’s been a star of the King’s School’s First XV for the past two years.
However Rugby Australia were quick to refute the claim the teen, who has been described as a sporting freak, was being offered AU$3 million over three years.
“Financial offers being speculated in the media presently are totally fanciful and are being propagated by the usual suspects whose sole interest it is to inflate and misrepresent contract values,” said RA interim CEO Rob Clarke earlier this week. “At this stage, there has been no agreement between Joseph, his family or his representation.
“Joseph Suaalii is an upstanding young man and a talented rugby player. We have made it no secret that we would like to keep Joseph within the rugby pathway.
“To be clear, whilst rugby cannot compete financially with our friends in the 13-man game here in Australia, many professional athletes choose to become part of our game because of the many other positive attributes and global opportunities it provides. It’s not all about money,” he said.
Now former Wallaby centre Turinui says he thinks the offer for the teen star is probably a fraction of the reported amount, likely in the region of $300,000 a year. “He obviously an exciting prospect, but there’s no way that (AU$3 million) can be true,” Turinui told The Tight Five Podcast.
“We all understand the financial year Rugby Australia just finished having and they find themselves in the midst of. I would think that something between $200,000 and $300,000 a year wouldn’t unreasonable for rugby.
“I think a lot of that would be an Australian Rugby Foundation chipping in. I don’t Rugby Australia would pay it out of their player-generated revenue salary. I’m probably more comfortable getting 10 juniors or three juniors, or the emerging Wallabies fighting fund, and the money being spent on those guys [rather] then on topping on top players’ salaries. I’m a big believer in the top players salaries being in direct relationship to how much money the game is generating. That’s the whole idea of the CBA and player-generated revenue.
“Their market value should be determined by how much they bring into the game. I like that model.”
“If we are in this battle that we believe we are in, then I’m pretty happy for people to commit funds to keep those type of guys.”
This is schoolboy Joseph Suaalii. Schoolboy ‘superstar’. I’m 47 and I don’t look as manly as this 16 year old. pic.twitter.com/vhFuENelHD
— Reg Roberts (@RugbyReg) July 26, 2020
Turinui also said he hopes that rugby looks after the player and prepares him for life after sport, something he believes union does better than its rivals in the 13-man code.
“I just hope that we don’t forget that we’re not rugby league – I don’t want to say this in a bad way – but if its something we’re offering this kid, I want it to be holistic. There should be career mentors, money for education. If he was to do a trade, if he wants to be a sparky, if he wants to be a pilot, I want him to planning for life after rugby and for rugby to take care of the human being.”
The tug-of-war for Suaalii talents might be the most intense of their kind for some years in Australian sport, but the hype around his talents are rare, even in hyperbolic world of schoolboy athletes. Rabbitohs legend and former England rugby union player Sam Burgess said he hasn’t seen the like of Suaalii and that he could even eclipse of the talents of Israel Folau or Greg Inglis.
“Look, I hate rapping young kids. It puts a lot of pressure on them and we rap them on potential and there’s plenty of kids the same age – but I’ve seen him play,” Burgess told NRL 360 after spending time with the Rabbitohs youngster during the off-season.
How would Australia's current contracted players feel if RA forks out the cash for this 16-year-old when they're already taking pay-cuts?
RA must tread very carefully. #SuperRugbyAU #Wallabieshttps://t.co/mvlGPeuwqG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 25, 2020
“I’ve seen him first-hand, training with the first team, and forget his athletic ability – what I saw inside Joseph Suaalii that day, I saw (how) we took him to the edge of the cliff and he hung on for dear life and he had the courage of a 25- to a 28-year-old man.
“And he was riding contact – this was six months ago – like any other first-grader. I’ve never ever seen a kid do that and never mind an outside back. So I hate rapping a young kid because it’s unwarranted, but I’ve seen him first-hand, he’s pretty special.”
NSW Waratahs coach Rob Penney says he’d have no qualms about fielding Suaalii in his Super Rugby AU team if a deal was done. “If he were to join us and he was deemed to be the best option then certainly he’d be selected,” Penney said on Thursday.
“It’s a professional environment; you have an eye on development but it’s about getting results and we probably haven’t been as consistent in that area as we would like.
“Age is no barrier.”
Penney said he had to talks to his playing squad – who have taken pay cuts – around the numbers being floated around Suaalii.
“There have been talks and we have addressed it as the reality is that all of our staff are on only percentages of their contractual earnings and people across the game have made sacrifice,” Penney said.
“The media reports could easily have undermined the environment and that was something I was really conscious of and we got on the front foot and opened the door for conversations should people need that.”
Wallaby coach Dave Rennie has even taken the time to meet the teen in person. “I met him when I was here in January. Impressive athlete and a very mature kid for 16,” Rennie said last month. “Guys like Joseph, they command a lot of attention and clearly Souths are very interested in him and have thrown some serious money in front him.
“So he’s just an example of the type of kids that we want to keep in our game, but it’s a competitive market and it’s not easy.
“We’re going to miss out on some of these kids coming out of school but I think it’s important that we keep in contact with them and keep that relationship going so that when they’re making the next decision around a contract our game is still an option for them.”
additional reporting AAP
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
70 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
70 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
4 Go to comments