SYDNEY : Israel Folau, Australian rugby’s most successful rugby league convert, thinks Joseph Suaalii should fill his old position as fullback for the Wallabies when the 21-year-old takes the field at test level in the 15-man game.
Suaalii, who has just made the move from the National Rugby League (NRL), looks set to make his Wallabies debut next month after being named in Joe Schmidt’s 34-man squad for the tour of Europe.
That tour looms as a key staging post for Australia as they prepare to host the British and Irish Lions next July.
Folau made his own Wallabies debut against the Lions on their last tour of Australia in 2013, scoring two tries in the first test in Brisbane.
Although Folau played the first five of his 73 tests on the wing before making the fullback position his own, he believes Suaalii should initially be handed the number 15 jersey.”I probably see him as a fullback,” Folau, who had played the best part of a season of Super Rugby before he won his first test cap, told The Australian newspaper.
“When I first came to the Waratahs, I was obviously new to the game, so (coach) Michael Cheika placed me at fullback, and sort of just gave me the licence to really inject myself here and there.
“So I felt like at that time, I just went out there to play footy and just try and enjoy it.
“I think I see the same for him, but he’s such a big body that he could, he could probably, long term, play (in the centres), but for now I just think fullback, for me personally, is his position.”
Folau, who was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 over social media posts they deemed homophobic and now plays in Japan, has no doubts that Suaalii will be a success in rugby union.
“What he’s done in the NRL just shows you how much talent he’s got,” the 35-year-old said.
“And then I think obviously making a transition to rugby, he went to a rugby school. I think he’s got no dramas in the sense of understanding the game and just making the transition over.”
Folau said he had known Suaalii for several years.
“He’s a great kid, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, he is really grounded, really humble,” he said.
“I’m pretty excited for him and to see what he will achieve on the field, but off the field is such a great, great guy, and just really level headed.”
