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Eddie Jones breaks silence on Joseph Suaalii leaving Roosters early; Tim Horan tells star to stay<!-- wp:html --><div> <h2>Eddie Jones breaks silence on Roosters rumors want Joseph Suaalii to defect next year and says early change would be ‘fantastic’ – as Wallabies legend Tim Horan tells star NOT to leave NRL club in trouble</h2> <p><strong>Star, 19, must change code from 2025 </strong><br /> <strong>Speculation The roosters will let him go at the end of the year </strong><br /> <strong>Jones would like to see a quick change </strong></p> <p class="author-section byline-plain">By Shayne Bugden for Daily Mail Australia </p> <p class="byline-section"><span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-published"> <span class="article-timestamp-label">Published:</span> 1:00 a.m. EDT, May 14, 2023 </span> | <span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated"> <span class="article-timestamp-label">Update:</span> 1:00 a.m. EDT, May 14, 2023 </span> </p> <p> <!-- ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/rugbyunion/article/other/para_top.html --> <!-- CWV --><!--[if !IE]>>--> <!-- <!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]>>--> <!--<!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]>>--> <!-- <!--[if IE 8]>--></p> <p> <!--[if IE 9]>--></p> <p> <!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]> --> <!--</p> <p> <!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.20.3. Copyright 1997-2009 Omniture, Inc. More info available at http://www.omniture.com --> </p> <p> <!-- End SiteCatalyst code version: H.20.3. --> <!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]> --> <!--<!--[if IE]>--></p> <p> <!--[if !IE]> --> <!-- <!-- CWV --></p> <div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Eddie Jones has finally spoken about Joseph Suaalii’s controversial code change after rumors surfaced that the Roosters let their star switch to rugby union a year earlier.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">The 19-year-old agreed to join the rival code from 2025 on a three-year deal worth $1.6million per season, but last week it was reported that Bondi’s club are reportedly considering cutting ties so he can join the 15-a-side. game in 2024.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Reports said Suaalii’s poor form since news of the bombshell’s defection to the union was behind the possible early split, but that was put down by Roosters owner Nick Politis and coach Trent Robinson.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan had a field day with the situation, asking if the Roosters had any ‘salary cap issues’, calling their treatment of the star ‘nothing short of awful’ and saying that they could rework his contract to allow a start to begin in ’30 minutes’.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Jones said it would be “fantastic” if Suaalii changed code sooner than expected, but he’s certainly not counting on it.</p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Jones (pictured with Wallabies stars at the MCG earlier this month) thinks getting his hands on Suaalii in 2024 instead of 2025 would be ‘fantastic’ – but he’s not counting on it</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Suaalii has been in unusually poor form since announcing his rugby union defection – and that continued in the Roosters’ heavy loss to Penrith on Friday (pictured)</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“I try to avoid all the nonsense in the newspaper, but when you’re a good player it comes with the territory and you have to be able to cope,” the Wallabies coach said. <a target="_blank" class="class" href="https://au.sports.yahoo.com/rugby-eddie-jones-makes-big-call-roosters-joseph-suaalii-rugby-move-023917255.html" rel="noopener">Yahoo Sports Australia</a>.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘It doesn’t really concern me. I’m only concerned with the world cup [in September]. </p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“Whatever happens to him after the World Cup… if he comes to rugby in 2024 it’s fantastic and we’ll see if he can pull it off.”</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">His opinion is not shared by Wallabies legend Tim Horan, who has urged Suaalii to stick to his contract with the Roosters so he can continue to learn from Robinson.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">‘Let Joseph continue to play rugby league. They’re both great games, rugby league and rugby union, and we’ll be ready for him when he comes,’ Horan said.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">“Trent is a very astute coach and I like the way he speaks. Joseph will come when he’s ready and that will be at the end of next year.</p> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">Wallabies legend Tim Horan (pictured left, interviewing Jones) believes staying with the Bondi club is in Suaalii’s best interests so he can continue to learn from manager Trent Robinson</p> </div> <div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img"> <div class="image-wrap"> </div> </div> <p class="imageCaption">The NRL star made headlines again last month when he was arrested in a secret meeting with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan (pictured) who slammed the 19-year-old’s treatment by the “nothing less than awful” club.</p> </div> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Suaalii’s unusually poor run of games continued when the Roosters were crushed by Penrith on Friday night in what skipper James Tedesco described as an “embarrassing” defeat – but he was far from alone on that front.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">His defection has been one of the stories of the season so far, thanks in large part to McLennan, who was caught in a secret meeting with the star in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on April 18 and exploited the saga for media coverage.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Last week, he bragged that Rugby Australia could afford to take Suaalii out of the hands of the Roosters immediately and hinted the club were keen to transfer him in order to free up $700,000 under the salary cap.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">Politis said there was no way the team was blaming the teenager ‘for the way the team is performing’ with their losing streak surprising the pundits who picked them to be contenders for the job. Prime Minister thanks to their list of stars. </p> </div> <p> <!-- ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/rugbyunion/article/other/inread_player.html --></p> <div class="column-content cleared"> <div class="shareArticles"> <h3 class="social-links-title">Share or comment on this article: </h3> </div> </div> </div><!-- /wp:html -->

Eddie Jones breaks silence on Roosters rumors want Joseph Suaalii to defect next year and says early change would be ‘fantastic’ – as Wallabies legend Tim Horan tells star NOT to leave NRL club in trouble

Star, 19, must change code from 2025
Speculation The roosters will let him go at the end of the year
Jones would like to see a quick change

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Eddie Jones has finally spoken about Joseph Suaalii’s controversial code change after rumors surfaced that the Roosters let their star switch to rugby union a year earlier.

The 19-year-old agreed to join the rival code from 2025 on a three-year deal worth $1.6million per season, but last week it was reported that Bondi’s club are reportedly considering cutting ties so he can join the 15-a-side. game in 2024.

Reports said Suaalii’s poor form since news of the bombshell’s defection to the union was behind the possible early split, but that was put down by Roosters owner Nick Politis and coach Trent Robinson.

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan had a field day with the situation, asking if the Roosters had any ‘salary cap issues’, calling their treatment of the star ‘nothing short of awful’ and saying that they could rework his contract to allow a start to begin in ’30 minutes’.

Jones said it would be “fantastic” if Suaalii changed code sooner than expected, but he’s certainly not counting on it.

Jones (pictured with Wallabies stars at the MCG earlier this month) thinks getting his hands on Suaalii in 2024 instead of 2025 would be ‘fantastic’ – but he’s not counting on it

Suaalii has been in unusually poor form since announcing his rugby union defection – and that continued in the Roosters’ heavy loss to Penrith on Friday (pictured)

“I try to avoid all the nonsense in the newspaper, but when you’re a good player it comes with the territory and you have to be able to cope,” the Wallabies coach said. Yahoo Sports Australia.

‘It doesn’t really concern me. I’m only concerned with the world cup [in September].

“Whatever happens to him after the World Cup… if he comes to rugby in 2024 it’s fantastic and we’ll see if he can pull it off.”

His opinion is not shared by Wallabies legend Tim Horan, who has urged Suaalii to stick to his contract with the Roosters so he can continue to learn from Robinson.

‘Let Joseph continue to play rugby league. They’re both great games, rugby league and rugby union, and we’ll be ready for him when he comes,’ Horan said.

“Trent is a very astute coach and I like the way he speaks. Joseph will come when he’s ready and that will be at the end of next year.

Wallabies legend Tim Horan (pictured left, interviewing Jones) believes staying with the Bondi club is in Suaalii’s best interests so he can continue to learn from manager Trent Robinson

The NRL star made headlines again last month when he was arrested in a secret meeting with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan (pictured) who slammed the 19-year-old’s treatment by the “nothing less than awful” club.

Suaalii’s unusually poor run of games continued when the Roosters were crushed by Penrith on Friday night in what skipper James Tedesco described as an “embarrassing” defeat – but he was far from alone on that front.

His defection has been one of the stories of the season so far, thanks in large part to McLennan, who was caught in a secret meeting with the star in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on April 18 and exploited the saga for media coverage.

Last week, he bragged that Rugby Australia could afford to take Suaalii out of the hands of the Roosters immediately and hinted the club were keen to transfer him in order to free up $700,000 under the salary cap.

Politis said there was no way the team was blaming the teenager ‘for the way the team is performing’ with their losing streak surprising the pundits who picked them to be contenders for the job. Prime Minister thanks to their list of stars.

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