Australian rugby fans will get their first look at Joseph Suaali'i on home soil when the Waratahs face the Highlanders on Super Rugby Pacific's Valentine's Day opener next year.
The Feb. 14 double-header that signals the competition's return begins in New Zealand with a blockbuster between the Crusaders and Waratahs, but all Australian eyes will be trained on Allianz Stadium, where NSW play their opening three games in what is a favourable draw for new coach Dan McKellar.
As well as Suaali'i, the Highlanders clash also represents the first chance for Waratahs fans to see Wallabies Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota, Darby Lancaster and Andrew Kellaway, who returns to the club for the first time since 2018, following the demise of the Melbourne Rebels.
But given his code switch, and the whopping price tag attached to it, the focus will be locked squarely on Suaali'i as he continues the transition he could begin as early as the next couple of weeks.
Going by what you read about the 21-year-old however, its highly likely the former schoolboy rugby star has already turned his attention to the 15-player game.
The question for the Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt in the meantime is: How and where should Suaali'i be used on Australia's spring tour?
The Roosters back announced earlier in September that he would be joining the Wallabies for their trip north, with his contract officially due to start next week, even if Schmidt himself was yet to really sit down and consider the situation.
"I was interested that Joseph mentioned that," Schmidt told reporters after the Wallabies had suffered a 33-13 defeat in Bledisloe II.
"I haven't spoken with him directly yet because I wanted to leave him to play for the Roosters, obviously they played last night and were knocked out by the Melbourne Storm, so we will potentially have a conversation [with him]. We've just got to wait for the powers at be to deem that he's available to us, and then post that, he'll be a guy who we'll have a conversation with for sure.
"He's obviously coming across to rugby and we'd be pretty happy to have him; he's a good athlete and a good player. And he kicks well, he goal-kicks well; having said that, I felt that Noah [Lolesio] kicked well tonight."
So how exactly could Schmidt use Suaali'i later this year and how might it help the Wallabies moving forward?
Read on as we try to answer some of the key questions of Suaali'i's looming switch.
SHOULD SUAALI'I TOUR WITH THE WALLABIES OR AUSTRALIA A?
While the Wallabies are embarking on a Grand Slam spring tour, Australia will actually have 60-plus players up north with an Australia A squad also set to be selected for games against England A and Bristol.
One of Schmidt's stated goals this year was to build depth in Australian rugby, which saw him hand out no fewer than 16 Test debuts across the July series and then The Rugby Championship.
But there is no way Suaali'i will feature in either of the Wallabies' first two Tests against England or Wales when he hasn't played the game in five years. The code-hopper could however be used in those non-capped matches against England A and Bristol as a means of reintroducing him to the sport he last played in 2019.
Schmidt will however want to bring Suaali'i up to speed with the Wallabies' patterns of play, and to start the process of finding out just where the code-hopper could slot into his backline mix.
So the best course of action may be for Suaali'i to straddle the two groups. That way he could get invaluable playing time in the Australia A games to begin his rugby reeducation, while also immersing himself in Schmidt's systems in the hope that he then may get an opportunity later on the tour against either Scotland or Ireland.
WHAT POSITION COULD SUAALI'I PLAY IN RUGBY?
This may be the most intriguing question surrounding Suaali'i's switch, with a variety of opinions as to where the 196cm, 98kg back could best be used.
Suaali'I played much of his junior rugby with The King's School first on the wing and then later at fullback, while he has since transitioned from the wing to right centre, and even spent time at fullback, in the NRL.
It's therefore possible that he could eventually feature in the midfield, on the wing, or at fullback in rugby.
As a reference point, both Israel Folau and Sonny Bill Williams started their rugby careers on the wing, before the Australian eventually found his way to fullback and the Kiwi quickly found a home at inside centre.
One thing the Wallabies are in the backline right now is small. Hunter Paisami, at 97kgs, is the heaviest Australia back to feature in either of the two recent Bledisloe defeats; but he is a full 25cm shorter than Suaali'i. The tallest Wallabies back right now is fullback Tom Wright [187cm].
Height may not be the most important thing for a Test rugby back, but when you combine it with weight the extra frame that is created can help draw in defenders, or free up an offload, as was the case with Williams.
Suaali'i has already shown his prowess in the air as a cross-field kick target for Roosters halves Sam Walker and Luke Keary, while he is also a competent goal-kicker, though one who has not kicked at the same strike rate as Lolesio in 2024.
Schmidt therefore has much to consider, though the coach was certainly complementary of the players who ran out in Wellington on the weekend.
"I felt that Hunter Paisami, he worked his butt off today; Lenny Ikitau did some great stuff; Dylan Pietsch came in for his first start and he did really well; he was cramping in both calves, but he still played, I felt, really well," Schmidt replied when asked whether Suaali'i's attacking skill set was perhaps exactly what the Wallabies lacked in Wellington.
"We're probably more solid than spectacular, and spectacular would be nice, but I've got huge admiration for the guys that went out there and confronted it really well."
WHICH WALLABIES MIGHT BE LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDER?
It's only natural that Suaali'i's arrival will generate both excitement and nerves, that was always going to be the case from the moment his code-swap was finalized and the rumoured price that was necessary to execute it.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said he was "excited" for Suaali'i to join rugby's ranks, but there will be a few Australian backs on edge about the Rooster's arrival.
Tom Wright, however, should not be one of them. The Brumbies fullback had another fine game in Wellington at the weekend and looks to have answered the questions about whether his, at times, risky attack can hold up in Test rugby.
The big change in Wright's game has been the clarity and decisiveness in his decision-making, which was probably what cost him a World Cup spot under Eddie Jones last year. But he has looked right at home in the Wallabies No. 15 jersey and only injury should prevent him from wearing it in all four games of the spring tour.
Similarly, Andrew Kellaway has been assured on the right wing, despite not always having the opportunity to show his wares; but the Waratahs-bound flyer's experience and game sense was evident on Saturday when he ripped the ball free from TJ Perenara just as the All Blacks looked set to launch another dangerous attack.
The left-hand wing position is less certain, however, and will be heavily influenced by what Schmidt decides to do with Marika Koroibete. The veteran Wallabies winger was not anywhere near his best in Bledisloe I, nor in Argentina before it, before a wrist injury opened up the opportunity for Dylan Piestch to start in Wellington at the weekend.
Discussions with Koroibete's Japanese club will likely influence whether he plays any part on the Wallabies' spring tour, but given Pietsch's effort on the weekend, and the fact Schmidt has also blooded youngsters Darby Lancaster and Max Jorgensen, and has also hinted Corey Toole's own Test debut is not far away, it may be that the Wallabies move on from Koroibete.
Len Ikitau, meanwhile, has grown into the Test season and is getting back to the rugby that saw him regarded as potentially world-class in the position in 2022, which leaves Paisami and Hamish Stewart, who started the Tests against the Pumas at 12, at inside centre.
There is a belief that Australia need a physical presence in the mould of a Bundee Aki, Damian de Allende or Jordie Barrett at No. 12, particularly when Ikitau, although powerful through contact, is relatively small at 181cm and 96kg.
Trying to turn Suaali'i into an inside centre by the time the Lions arrive next June would however seem a lofty ambition.
DOES SUAALI'I HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO BE A GENUINE THREAT AGAINST THE LIONS NEXT YEAR?
That is the $5.4 million question.
The key for Suaali'i will be continuity of position, which makes conversations between Schmidt and new Waratahs coach Dan McKellar particularly important between now and the start of Super Rugby Pacific 2025.
It's worth remembering however that Folau started for the Wallabies on the wing in each of the three Tests against the Lions, scoring a double on debut in Brisbane to boot. And, more importantly, that Folau did it after just one season of Super Rugby, not with the headstart Suaali'i is poised to get through November.
And where Folau came into rugby having only played sparing little of the code previously, Suaali'i is returning to the sport where he excelled as a junior and one that helped make him such a hot property as a result.
Under the centralization agreement between the Waratahs and Rugby Australia, it should be easier for Schmidt and McKellar to come to some arrangement, in theory, as to where Suaali'i should be playing.
But given the Waratahs boast a plethora of outside backs, it may be that naturally he finds himself in the midfield.
Conveniently, that might be just where the Wallabies can best use him, too.