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BOOM Sydney Roosters teenager Joseph Suaalii is expected to make his much-hyped debut for feeder club the North Sydney Bears next weekend.
The 17-year-old schoolboy superstar is still waiting for a clearance to play NRL before his 18th birthday, prompting coach Trent Robinson to use the Canterbury Cup as a launching pad for the game’s most exciting rookie in more than a decade.
The Roosters are hoping to get an NRL clearance for Suaalii before the start of the competition in the second week of March, a move that has become more important following news that luckless centre Billy Smith has been seriously hurt at a training camp.
Smith, 21, was sidelined for all last season with an ACL rupture.
He suffered a shoulder injury during contract drills last Thursday on the NSW north coast and was flown back to Sydney for surgery.
The promising young centre is expected to miss the fight eight to 10 rounds of the competition.
It is a horrible blow for the Roosters’ centre, who debuted in 2019 and is rated as one of the hottest talents in the game.
But this opens the door for Suaalii to get a crack in the centres, although Joey Manu and Josh Morris are expected to be the starting centres in round one against Manly at the SCG.
The North Sydney Bears, coached by Jason Taylor, play at Camden next weekend before the main game between the Wests Tigers and the Roosters.
Robinson was hoping Suaalii could have a low-key debut to avoid all the hype.
However there will be a huge media presence there to cover his first outing, such is the interest in the youngster who knocked back the Wallabies and then walked out on the Rabbitohs to join their arch-rivals.
The Roosters are still hopeful of gaining an exemption to play Suaalii before his 18th birthday in August.
Robinson and Roosters head of recruitment Daniel Anderson have even visited his school, Kings, to speak with the headmaster about combining his final year of education with the demands of playing NRL.
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