Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii revealed that he still has no clarity on the position he will play in the union and which has been the biggest challenge since switching codes.

Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt says the former NRL star is likely to make his Test debut during the Autumn Nations Series, with Australia taking on England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in November.

This is despite the fact that Suaalii has not played a professional game of rugby since switching codes. The $5 million recruit trained with the Waratahs and Wallabies recently, but will only get his first real taste of the 15-aside game at the highest level.

The biggest challenge

While there are many similarities between the two codes, there are major differences in gameplay and breakdown, The swaals it’s set to appear in the rear and you shouldn’t have to worry too much about pinning shots, but the breakdown is sure to be the biggest point of difference.

The 21-year-old is well aware of this and says he is working hard to regain the muscle memory from his schoolboy union days.

“I’m just learning the pieces and then the importance of the ruck,” Suaalii said when asked what the hardest aspect of the code switch was.

“That was probably the challenge, but I’m always up for a challenge, I feel like I work hard and that’s one of my strengths.”

He believes his previous XVs experience, as well as his time playing 7s, will help him in his code switch, as will his league career.

“I played at school and I played 7s so it was important to learn the breakdown – I know the importance of the breakdown, especially up north,” he said.

“Contact has always been a strong point of mine. In the league, you always have to embrace contact and go for contact, so once I have a game – even in practice – it could be a point of difference, but I’m just training him and he’s getting better and better day by day.”

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The height of the device

Sua’ali’i became the sixth player in State of Origin history to receive a red card after making a horrific tackle just seven minutes into the match.

Union has much stricter laws regarding the height of tackles, which the uncapped Wallaby is well aware of as he noted the different approaches the two sports take.

“It’s a different approach,” he said.

“League is about high tackling and tackling but union is a lot about tackling, I feel like that was one of my strengths as well.

“It’s just about practicing it more and I’m doing it every day, it’s exciting.”

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Former Wallabies star Israel Folau predicts Sua’ali’i will follow his lead and play fullback within 15 seconds after making the switch from rugby league, but the 21-year-old says he is still unclear about regarding his position.

“I trained everywhere, wing, center and defender. Just like in the league, I have played centre, defender and wing, so at the moment it is not clear which position I will play, but I am training everyone and learning as much as possible,” he said.

“I don’t have a preference, like in the Championship, but I feel I could play centre-back, wing-back and full-back.”

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Head down

At the unveiling event for the new Wallabies jersey to be worn in the 2025 British and Irish Lions series, Suaalii repeatedly said he was working hard to prepare to make his Test debut.

However, he added that there were no certain requirements he felt he had to meet to make his first appearance in the syndicate.

“There’s not really any boxes to tick, the more I put my head down and work hard and learn as much as possible and connect with the team,” he said.

“I put my best foot forward when I’m in the training paddock.”

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