{"id":349336,"date":"2023-11-26T03:34:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T04:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=349336"},"modified":"2023-11-26T07:01:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T07:01:20","slug":"shunned-ra-boss-admission-over-suaalii-mega-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=349336","title":{"rendered":"Shunned RA boss' admission over Suaalii mega deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney Roosters<\/a> player Joseph Suaalii<\/a> has reached out to \ufeffrugby figures Hamish McLennan and Eddie Jones<\/a>, confirming he will be honouring his deal with Rugby Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McLennan\ufeff admits his downfall as RA chairman was because he was behind the $5 million deal to move Suaalii to rugby in 2025.<\/p>\n

Despite the negative outcome for McLennan, he said he does not regret getting Suaalii on board, confident he will take the contract and become an "iconic figure" of the game.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> How Giddey responded to surprising OKC call<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussies to face Italy after 'monumental' Djoker meltdown<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ugly scenes as striker, coach involved in sideline stoush<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"I've talked to Joseph this week," McLennan told the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"He was decent enough to give me a call, which is a reflection of the kind of young man that he is \u2013 and after our conversation I have no doubt he will take his contract up with RA.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph<\/p>\n

McLennan didn't go into details of the call, but said he knew the 20-year-old is still ready to make the switch to the 15-man game.<\/p>\n

"I initially contacted his family to tell them I was sorry I would not be there when he was coming," he said.<\/p>\n

"When he called, I didn't ask him about his intentions but he made it clear he wants to honour his deal.<\/p>\n

"He has said all along it was his dream to play for the Wallabies and Waratahs, and I will be so delighted when he does. He wants to make a difference to the sport and help out the boys."<\/p>\n

\"Roosters<\/p>\n

McLennan said the publicity Suaalii has already\ufeff attracted has generated millions of dollars for the sport before he's even played a game.<\/p>\n

"The criticism of him and the deal is crazy. Before he pulls on a jumper he has generated over $50 million worth of publicity for rugby … and the first time he plays for the Waratahs in front of a full house, he pays for himself. It's a no-brainer," he said.<\/p>\n

Eddie Jones<\/a> has reportedly been been "playing phone tennis" with Suaalii.<\/p>\n

"I know what he wants to say because he spoke to Hamish (McLennan) and I appreciate it," Jones said.<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

"His actions in calling up says it all about the sort of kid he is. He is quality. He will be right when it comes to his deal. He's fine."<\/p>\n

The Herald reports RA is also trying to recover over $1 million from the French Rugby Federation after an oral agreement regarding Wallabies' World Cup warm-up match against France, between now-departed McLennan and former FFR president Bernard Laporte has fallen through.<\/p>\n

McLennan and Laporte met in 2021 and orally agreed the FFR would pay RA a $1.7 million match fee for the game at Stade de France, which was held on August 27, 2023.\ufeff<\/p>\n

In January 2023, Laporte was convicted of corruption and illegally acquiring assets, and stood down. Florian Grill then took over.<\/p>\n

\"McLennan<\/p>\n

But despite Grill confirming the oral agreement before August, he said the FFR did not have the money in their budget for RA's shares.<\/p>\n

"On the strength of the words of the Australian leaders, we have discovered an oral agreement for a sum of the order of one million euros or a little less," Grill told media outlet Midi Olympique.<\/p>\n

"The Australian federation therefore wrote to us to collect this sum, plus a percentage on the TV rights. An agreement which would therefore have been given at the time of the old governance. Obviously, it hadn't been budgeted for."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sydney Roosters player Joseph Suaalii has reached out to \ufeffrugby figures Hamish McLennan and Eddie Jones, confirming he will be honouring his deal with Rugby […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":349338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=349336"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349341,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349336\/revisions\/349341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/349338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}