Joseph Suaalii suffers rare injury not ‘dealt with every day’ as Dan McKellar remains ‘hopeful’ after Wallabies star’s setback

Waratahs head coach Dan McKellar has revealed that Joseph Suaalii’s toe injury could keep him on the sidelines for several matches during the Super Rugby Pacific season.

High profile code hopper Suaalii was ruled out of last Friday’s clash with the Fijian Drua in Sydney – which the Waratahs won 29-24 – after sustaining his injury in their Round One victory over the Highlanders.

McKellar initially downplayed the seriousness of Suaalii‘s injury after the Waratahs full-back was absent from the team’s training sessions in the build-up to the Drua clash.

‘Sometimes you’ve got to put the Ferraris in the garage’

“Joe’s fine. Sometimes you’ve got to put the Ferraris in the garage,” he said last week.

However, the coach admitted after the win over the Drua that the 21-year-old is set for a longer stint on the sidelines.

“It’s not long-term. It’s a toe injury, something you don’t deal with every day,” McKellar told Nine’s Wide World of Sports.

“It’s not like a medial ligament or an AC (acromioclavicular joint), so we’re hopeful it’ll only be a couple of weeks.”

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After winning their first two matches, the Waratahs’ next three games are three consecutive Australian derbies, against the Western Force, Reds and Brumbies and McKellar revealed that he will not rush Suaalii’s return to action.

‘There’s being fit to play, and there’s being fit to perform’

“I’ll manage him like any other player: there’s being fit to play, and there’s being fit to perform and those are two very different things,” he explained.

“When he’s ready, he’ll be considered and only then.”

In Suaalii’s absence, Andrew Kellaway was shifted from the right wing to full-back while former Western Force centre Henry O’Donnell made his Waratahs debut against the Force.

“He (O’Donnell) did well, he’s a physical kid and defensively he was strong. For a first game he can be pleased with that performance,” McKellar said.

“We’ve lost two guys who can play in the centres in Joey Walton and Suaalii, and it gives us a challenge in the midfield, but we’re dealing with it.

“I’ve said it a number of times. The number on the back of your jersey doesn’t impact us a whole lot.”

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