1. Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i is an Australian rugby union footballer who plays for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super Rugby and the Australia national rugby team.
35 Facts About Joseph Sua'ali'i
1. 2.
Joseph Sua'ali'i previously played rugby league as a winger or centre for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League, for New South Wales and for Samoa at international level.
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Joseph Sua'ali'i was born in Penrith, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, the son of a Samoan father and an Australian mother of Cambodian and European heritage.
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Joseph Sua'ali'i grew up playing rugby league for the Glenmore Park Brumbies and then moved to the Coogee Wombats from age 12.
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Joseph Sua'ali'i attended Regentville Public School and attended The King's School, Parramatta.
6.
Joseph Sua'ali'i set the Australian 12-year-old male high jump record in 2015.
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Joseph Sua'ali'i is the nephew of Samoan Australian boxer Paulo Aokuso.
8.
In 2018, Joseph Sua'ali'i played rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Harold Matthews Cup.
9.
Joseph Sua'ali'i played rugby union as a fullback for The King's School's 1st XV from the age of 14, and in 2018 was selected to represent the GPS 1st XV, and the NSW Schoolboys and Australian Schoolboys in rugby sevens.
10.
In February 2019, Joseph Sua'ali'i re-signed with the Rabbitohs until the end of the 2021 season.
11.
Joseph Sua'ali'i captained the Harold Matthews Cup team in 2019, scoring fifteen tries in nine matches, and was named the Harold Matthews Cup Player of the Year.
12.
Conflicting reports in mid-2020 suggested that Joseph Sua'ali'i had agreed to a multi-million dollar contract with either the Rabbitohs, or Rugby Australia, which they denied.
13.
In discussions with both those enitities, Joseph Sua'ali'i reportedly wanted 'get out' clauses available in his favour.
14.
Joseph Sua'ali'i made his debut for North Sydney Bears in round one of the 2021 NSW Cup season.
15.
Joseph Sua'ali'i made his NRL debut on 22 May 2021, playing at centre for the Sydney Roosters in their round eleven loss to the Brisbane Broncos.
16.
At age 17 years and 294 days, Joseph Sua'ali'i was the first player since Jason Taumalolo in 2010 to debut prior to their 18th birthday.
17.
Joseph Sua'ali'i scored his first NRL try the following week as the Sydney Roosters defeated the Canberra Raiders in round twelve.
18.
Joseph Sua'ali'i played in the Roosters' next three fixtures, winning one and losing two.
19.
Joseph Sua'ali'i was absent from the first five rounds of the 2022 NRL season from a foot injury.
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Joseph Sua'ali'i had ten tries, he averaged 131 run metres, 27.5 kick return metres, 5.6 tackles, 3.2 tackle breaks, and had eight linebreaks.
21.
Joseph Sua'ali'i scored six tries in a seven match win-streak, to finish the season in sixth place.
22.
Joseph Sua'ali'i ended his second NRL season as the Dally M Winger of the Year.
23.
Joseph Sua'ali'i played 21 matches for the Sydney Roosters in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals.
24.
Joseph Sua'ali'i played in both of the clubs finals games as they were eliminated in the second week against Melbourne.
25.
Joseph Sua'ali'i became only the sixth player in Origin history to be sent off.
26.
Joseph Sua'ali'i was charged with a grade two reckless high tackle offence.
27.
Joseph Sua'ali'i was later suspended for four weeks over the incident.
28.
Weeks later, and a month before the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, Joseph Sua'ali'i responded to the call-up stating his intentions to play for Samoa.
29.
Joseph Sua'ali'i played every minute of Samoa's 2021 Rugby League World Cup campaign, in which they started in Pool A against hosts England.
30.
In late August 2022, it was reported that Joseph Sua'ali'i was being heavily pursued by Rugby Australia in an attempt to have him "switch codes" to play rugby union for an alleged A$10 million over five years.
31.
On 25 March 2023, it was announced that Joseph Sua'ali'i had signed with Rugby Australia to switch codes and play for the New South Wales Waratahs and Australia starting from 2025.
32.
Joseph Sua'ali'i's move was very high-profile, being compared to former rugby league and rugby union players Israel Folau, Sonny Bill Williams, and Lote Tuqiri.
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Besides, I really think that after Joseph Sua'ali'i plays rugby for a little while he will get terribly bored and return to rugby league.
34.
Joseph Sua'ali'i re-joined the team following the end of the international calendar, however he did not make an appearance in any pre-season matches.
35.
In October 2024, Joseph Sua'ali'i was named in the Australia national team squad for the Autumn Nations Series by head coach Joe Schmidt having only played his last game for the Sydney Roosters a month prior.