Wallabies legend Tim Horan calls on Eddie Jones to bring Joseph Suaalii into the World Cup squad NOW following injury to Max Jorgensen – after previously telling the Roosters star to stay in the NRL
Wallabies legend Tim Horan has raised eyebrows after calling on Eddie Jones to immediately include NRL star Joseph Suaalii in the World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Max Jorgensen.
It comes after Horan, 53, stated in May that the Roosters winger should stay in the league and hone his craft under coach Trent Robinson.
Suaalii will join the ARU from 2025 on a three-year contract worth $1.6 million per season.
He was a schoolboy rugby sensation at The King’s School in Sydney before defecting to the NRL.
“Here’s a thought: I wonder if Eddie would approach the Roosters about releasing Suaalii early and joining the Wallabies as (Max) Jorgensen’s replacement in France?”, Horan posted Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Wallabies legend Tim Horan (pictured, with daughter Lucy) has raised eyebrows after calling for Eddie Jones to immediately include NRL star Joseph Suaalii in the World Cup squad
Suaalii will join the ARU from 2025 on a three-year contract worth $1.6 million per season
Young player Max Jorgensen broke his fibula during training this week and is expected to be sidelined for some time
The radical suggestion – ahead of Australia’s World Cup match against Wales on Monday at 5am Dutch time – was widely reported by Horan’s followers on social media.
“I can’t catch up with Tim at this late stage,” said one fan.
Another felt the bold call was ‘tasteless with desperation’, while a third spoke for many when they called the Wallabies World Cup a ‘farcical campaign’.
Wallabies fans are still reeling from Monday’s 22-15 defeat to Fiji in Saint-Etienne.
Fiji are known as rugby’s biggest ad-libbers, but put away the dazzle and won in a very un-Fijian traditional way: breakthrough domination, defense against the wall and ruthless effort for 80 minutes.
“It was a very deserved win for Fiji,” Jones said.
“They beat us, especially around the ruck. They had three times more turnovers than us and in a close game that’s the difference. For some reason we had just left.
“If you look at the stats we dominated and scored two tries to one, but we weren’t quite ourselves so it will take some soul searching. It makes the game against Wales quite important.”
It was also Fiji’s first victory over Australia since 1954.
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