Joseph Suaalii hails Joe Schmidt’s coaching impact after brilliant Wallabies debut
Wallabies star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Newly capped Wallabies star Joseph Suaalii has lauded the effect Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has had in his early rugby union career following his professional bow against England.
The former Sydney Roosters man hopped over from the NRL to union last month, and made his full professional debut in the Wallabies’ 42-37 win at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday, starting at outside centre.
The Joe Schmidt effect
Eyebrows were certainly raised when Wallabies boss Schmidt selected Suaalii to start against England, but his big-money recruit more than repaid the faith in him with a brilliant performance.
“I love how Joe coaches,” the cross-code star said. “I love just listening to him talk, I feel I take a lot of things from him like how he gets a group together.”
He added: “I’ve only been in camp for about two or three weeks now but I’ve learnt a lot just from listening to Joe.”
Suaalii is also yet to play Super Rugby for new club the Waratahs, however, newly appointed boss Dan McKellar will be licking his lips ahead of the 2025 campaign following a superb debut.
‘There’s a lot of growth in my game’
Suaalii made an immediate impact for Schmidt’s side, as his Player of the Match display helped Australia end a run of three successive defeats. He notched a delicious assist to send Tom Wright over for their opening try, and he also chipped in with seven carries with ball-in-hand.
Despite a brilliant start to life in the 15-man game, he detailed there is still ‘a lot of growth’ in his game.
“I feel like it’s come by so quickly, I only finished the league season a month ago so it goes fast. I’m just taking it day by day and soaking it up and learning as much as I can. There’s a lot of growth in my game, and I’m just looking forward to playing against Wales,” he said.
“I feel like I have a bit of freedom to just play anywhere,” Suaalii continued. “That’s the thing I love about playing union, being able to play at outside centre, then jump on the wing or at fullback; I just love playing footie.”
He also detailed how he has quickly had to push the league ‘instinct’ out of his head to succeed in union.
“There’s a lot of things (I’ve had to learn). Playing League, you naturally have that instinct of playing the league game, so I’ve had to tone it back and learn about the breakdown and punching it back to the boys. I played the game at school, so I felt very comfortable out there today.”
The 22-year-old would have been excused for having a poor game given it was his first in the code since he was 17 – and that was at school – but he detailed he was ‘ready for anything’.
“I was ready for anything, my mindset is ‘I just want to play’. I don’t want to just sit and wait, that’s the best way to do it to get on the field and play. When Joe (Schmidt) gave me the nod to play it was a very emotional time but I also knew I had to get the job done.”
Suaalii and the rest of the Wallabies squad now prepare for a huge clash against familiar foes Wales, with Warren Gatland’s side looking to end a run of 10-successive defeats.
