Club Statement: Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

[Easts75]

Yet not amongst the top 5 fullbacks in the game.

90% of the game last night he was disinterested.....and thats being generous

[Bowie79]

6 million living a modest lifestyle could last someone a life time, that'd be 133k a year from 20 to 65.

Of course he'll make more though, 4.8 million from Rugby plus 450k from international match bonuses (Assuming he plays all) and then even if he's an absolute flop in Union he'll easily get a return to NRL and get paid a million a year by someone (Hopefully us).

Absolutely.. He'd probably more than double the 6 mil by the time he's finished with sport, and he's already bought himself a place in the Eastern Suburbs (at 19). Some people reckon living a full lavish lifestyle is the only option in life whereas a smart, level headed kid like Suaalii from the western suburbs of Sydney, would somehow struggle to cope .

[Danish]

6 million living a modest lifestyle could last someone a life time, that'd be 133k a year from 20 to 65.

Of course he'll make more though, 4.8 million from Rugby plus 450k from international match bonuses (Assuming he plays all) and then even if he's an absolute flop in Union he'll easily get a return to NRL and get paid a million a year by someone (Hopefully us).

if a person averages $133k/yr for the next 40 years, they will retire as a renter on the minimal super if they live in Sydney.

Best chance he has is pouring 90% of his salary into investments and hope they are good ones. the easts boys get the added bonus of having Politis and Bouris to help guide their investment strategies. Even if he earns $20m over his career he is still going to be needing to live off that for 50+ years, and something tells me his family are going to be expecting a nice little chunk of his earnings based off of how involved they are in planning out his career.

he’s not going to be hurting for cash by any means, but he’ll need to set himself up for another career after his sporting life is over. Much richer people than him have lost it all before.

[Thirteen]

He is though. 1. Teddy 2. Papi/ Turbo 3. Papi/ Turbo 4. Latrell 5. Dylan Edwards. Please don't say Gutho over Latrell

Edwards is a better player than Latrell. He’s a much more consistent performer. Latrell can be brilliant but you just don’t see it often enough. Compare the stats of the two.

Have you seen Walsh this season? He’s absolutely dynamic. I won’t say he’s better than Latrell at fullback after 4 great games but he’s well on the way.

As for Queen Gutho, he has much more influence on a consistent basis on a game then Latrell.

And don’t forget about our Manu, also a better fullback than Latrell.

[Danish]

Sorry but Latrell is one of the greatest players of this or any generation.

You're delusional if you think otherwise.

greatest player of his generation can’t even play his preferred position at rep level.

if Latrell could get out of his own way and play his correct position - which is 6 - and do even a modicum of fitness work, he could be a great. He doesn’t have the mental fortitude for that though, and as such will forever be an underachiever

[Thirteen]

90% of the game last night he was disinterested.....and thats being generous

Got tackled just 3 times in the first half. Doesn’t want to get the ball is his hands.

[Thirteen]

greatest player of his generation can’t even play his preferred position at rep level.

if Latrell could get out of his own way and play his correct position - which is 6 - and do even a modicum of fitness work, he could be a great. He doesn’t have the mental fortitude for that though, and as such will forever be an underachiever

The thing is, fullback isn’t his preferred position. He only “wants” fullback cause he gets fullback dollars. I’m convinced he prefers left centre so he can have a bludge and wait for the ball to come to him. A good fullback wants the ball, goes looking for it. Latrell certainly doesn’t.

[Grant Hedger]

Unless Suaalii plays to such a high standard that he takes the Roosters to back to back Grand Finals on the back of his brilliance, he may as well go now. This means he would need to be Dally M player of the year standard week in week out. I haven’t seen it so far. I have seen it in Reece Walsh, and a few others. I don’t know that he’s that type of player who can win games in his own right. And if he’s not going to do that, and we’re more likely to compete to just get into the top 8, then he can be replaced now. We need to treat him as he’s treating us - it’s just business. He’s used us to get himself a payday with rugby, and now we should just care if he can play a big part in getting us a premiership. We’ve met our part of the deal, now it’s over to you.

[Bondicigar]

The thing is, fullback isn’t his preferred position. He only “wants” fullback cause he gets fullback dollars. I’m convinced he prefers left centre so he can have a bludge and wait for the ball to come to him. A good fullback wants the ball, goes looking for it. Latrell certainly doesn’t.

Who would you want playing for the chooks at fullback in a grand final
Latrell or Gutho ?

[ism22]

So what's the good of training him for 2 years when he's leaving?
Answer: no good.
Would've been nice if he'd told us he was leaving...before he signed on for $1.4m of our money for 2 years.
I'd be very unhappy if I were the Club.
So unhappy I'd probably banish him from sight to NSW Cup and find someone else to play left centre.

More chance of us winning the 2023 and/or 2024 premiership if we do so? Not all players will stay with us for life.

My only question is why yawnion would want a guy who's training to be a league winger. That's the state of their game though. You saw Folau (who IMO probably isn't as good as Manu and Toops). He and Koroibete gratuitously make massive metres in yawnion as soon as they touch the ball because the defence is so shyte.

Like RTS and Latrell, I won't hold any of this against Sua'ali'i. If I grew up poor and got offered millions to play footy, I'd take it. There's loyalty and then there's stupidity. Yow Yeh was on a similar trajectory and one bad landing ended his career. I still dunno how an ankle can be broken so badly that you can never play footy again, but that's the nature of the sport. Could happen to anybody tomorrow and you'd feel like a fool to have played for unders if that happened to you.

[Rooster_6]

Can't blame the guy 1.6m a year is ridiculous money. ARU clearly more desperate than I thought.

Will be interesting to see how long we persist with him at centre given Robert Toia has returned to training and the forum that Pauga showed in the pre-season.

Suaalii has shown he's a world class winger and a reserve grade centre to date. If by Round 12 he hasn't improved Robbo is going to have a tough decision to make.

[elo]

The second Eddie Jones agreed to come back you knew the ARU were going to spend as Eddie wouldn't have signed on without a spending commitment......I would expect a few more big names to be in the crosshairs for the switch.

[Thirteen]

Who would you want playing for the chooks at fullback in a grand final
Latrell or Gutho ?

Latrell of course cause he’s capable of that big moment.

[ccfc bondi]

I gotta say, at this point he is still a player with potential. He has a strong running and tackling game, but he is yet to develop a passing game. Look at what Latrell does, and has since day one! (Sorry to mention the 'L' word!) Rugby Australia are taking a risk, and it's a bit of an insult to players dedicated to that game. Wallaby selection used to be earned, now you just sign a contract like you're joining a club...no wonder they do so badly. Still, if he wants to take the money and sit out on the wing in Australia's most boring football code, can't blame him. Hope he doesn't get too bored in the 15 man code.....but let's see what we can do with him until then!

[BillyBonkers]

In a second rate team as in the Wallabies, no doubt he'll look good, in the real world of footy (NRL), he's just another Joe with potential to be something special.
No where as definitive as Latrell at his age to be one out the box.
Have to wonder if it's 1.6 M, what would Walsh or Cobbo be worth, relative to him talent wise ?