Waratahs captain Jake Gordon has played down speculation Joseph Suaali'i could switch codes and join NSW in 2025, but backed the rising NRL star to be a success in rugby if he did choose to follow a trail similar to that of Israel Folau a decade ago.
Suaali'i's longer-term future has been the subject of continued chatter for the past few years, but, on Friday afternoon the Daily Telegraph reported the 19-year-old was "poised to sign with Rugby Australia" after high-level meetings between the youngster's manager Isaac Moses and RA chairman Hamish McLennan.
The Telegraph reports the deal is worth $1.6m per season, with a two-year offer understood to be on the table.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has made no secret of his desire to lure Suaali'i across since the former Test boss returned to the role in January, but the 63-year-old was coy on the latest development when quizzed at the annual Australian Schools Rugby lunch on Friday.
"The only thing I'm worried about is this World Cup," Jones said.
"I've got no thought pattern past October 28. Zero. And I can't afford to."
Suaali'i has signed a succession of one-year deals with Sydney Roosters in the NRL, and recently agreed to the one-year option to stay at the powerhouse rugby league club for 2024.
But a report in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday revealed Rugby Australia bosses were closing in on a deal with the teenager that would see him switch codes in time for the British & Irish Lions series in 2025, putting him on the same course as Folau when he left GWS Giants in 2013 after a failed AFL stint.
Folau would go on to start against the Lions, scoring a double on his Test debut, before he enjoyed a flourishing rugby career that yielded three John Eales Medals and a World Cup final appearance with the Wallabies in 2015.
However, the now-Tonga representative's career came to a sudden and ugly halt when his Rugby Australia contract was torn up for multiple anti-gay social media posts. Folau and RA later settled their dispute for an undisclosed fee.
Folau also starred for the Waratahs in Super Rugby, which is understood to be Suaali'i's likely destination if he does in fact switch codes. Suaali'i was raised in western Sydney, again just like Folau.
Speaking on Thursday, Waratahs captain Gordon said he wasn't making too much of the recent reports, but admitted he liked what he had seen of Suaali'i's performances with the Roosters.
"I've seen him play league, he's pretty athletic. I haven't seen him play union yet so, you know, that stuff's really out of my control, but he looks like a great athlete,' Gordon said. "I'm sure he'd go well in union, so in short, yeah we'd be happy with it."
The rugby league world was put in a spin last week when Suaali'i's agent, Isaac Moses, was spotted renewing his accreditation with RA, ramping up speculation that the youngster's contract negotiations were about to go into overdrive.
But Moses is also the agent for Waratahs back-rower Will Harris, so the Sydneysider may well have just been ensuring he was able to deal on the promising forward's behalf. Moses also manages Kurtley Beale and Will Skelton.
Suaali'i was signed by the Rabbitohs while still at The King's School, before he jumped ship to the Roosters where he made his NRL debut as a 17-year-old in 2021 after the NRL approved his application to play before his 18th birthday.
He had spoken with former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie during his time in rugby league, but it has been Jones' return that has really heightened cross-code tensions.
Jones has made no secret of his desire to bolster the Wallabies' player base with some key NRL recruits, nominating Suaali'i and Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray among his top targets.
But such talk has also created unrest among Australian rugby's existing ranks, with one senior administrative official telling ESPN that the constant talk about NRL players, and the fact RA is still negotiating its way out of a financial hole, was pushing some established Wallabies to look overseas.
RA boss Andy Marinos last week said he wasn't too concerned by Jones' front-foot approach to NRL players, saying "market tension" was not necessarily a bad thing.
Gordon also played down reports of unrest on Thursday; there is also typically an exodus of players immediately after World Cup years.
"Yeah, I'm not sure, to be honest. We haven't been chatting about it here, but yeah, I think probably better off asking the guys who are frustrated by it," Gordon said of rumoured unrest.
"The boys here are pretty focused on the weekend and yeah, I'm not too sure about the frustration of what other guys are having around their contracts."
If the Waratahs were to bring Suaali'i across to rugby, the team could have one of the most dynamic back-three combinations in the game alongside Mark Nawaqanitawase and another teenage sensation, Max Jorgensen.
Nawaqanitawase was one of the stars of the Wallabies' spring tour, while Jorgensen has already run in four tries in just three Super Rugby Pacific performances in his debut season, his finish against the Hurricanes' in Round 4 drawing widespread plaudits given the defensive pressure he was under.