'Didn't miss a beat': How World Cup prepared Suaali'i for fullback role

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson declined to reveal whether Joseph-Aukuso Suaali'i will play fullback next Thursday, but he praised his development in the role during last year’s World Cup.

Suaali'i spent 56 minutes at fullback in Thursday night’s 28-20 defeat of Parramatta after James Tedesco failed a HIA, and the teenager handled the switch from left centre with ease.

With Golden Boot winner Joey Manu returning from suspension against the Storm, Robinson has the option of playing the Kiwi superstar in the fullback role while Tedesco undergoes a mandatory 11-day stand-down, or Suaali'i.

The 19-year-old had previously filled in for Tedesco after the Roosters captain was forced from the field due to a head knock in last year’s finals loss to South Sydney, but he did not appear comfortable.

However, Suaali'i wore the No.1 jersey in Samoa’s stunning run to the World Cup final against Tedesco’s Australian side at Old Trafford, and has clearly grown in confidence.

“I saw during the World Cup how he developed from the England [opening] game right through to the final against Australia,” Robinson said.

“He learns quickly, but it takes a long time to learn fullback in the NRL. It is different to junior reps or anything like that, so he has developed really quickly in a short space of time.”

Senior playmaker Luke Keary said Suaali'i’s teammates had also noticed the improvement in the union-bound teen’s ability to play fullback.

“I thought he was really good,” Keary said. “In that semi-final last year, where Ted left and he came in, he was a little bit all over the shop.

“Tonight he was moving, was connected, was moving the line in defence and he popped up all over the field.”

Suaali'i had a hand in three Roosters tries but Robinson was most impressed by the way he organised the team’s defensive line.

“Obviously moving positions, there’s two parts to it. How are you can move in attack with these guys and the forwards, and how are you going to organise the defensive line,” Robinson said,

“I thought he did outstandingly well. Guys get a little bit stunned in that position, but he played a lot – he played left and right and through the middle – and I thought he looked really comfortable there.

“Then he had to get in control of our line straight away, and he did for the most part a really good job.

“It was a credit to him. Every fullback meeting that we do, Suaali'i is at. He is there and he is trying to learn his left centre role but he is always ready to learn the fullback role. I felt we didn’t miss a beat.”

However, Robinson was coy about whether Suaali'i would remain in the role in Melbourne next Thursday night, or if Manu would return at fullback against the Storm.

“It’s a bit of a decision to make, but I know what I am going to do there,” he said.

Earlier, the Roosters coach admitted he had been "ropable" when Tedesco was forced from the field after a tackle by Eels winger Bailey Simonsson after he passed the ball.

Simonsson was given 10 minutes in the sin bin but with Tedesco now ruled out of next week's Storm clash under the new 11-day mandatory stand down policy, there is debate about whether the punishment was sufficient.

"I was expecting a send off," Robinson said. "I was ropable at the time that it wasn't a send off but I looked at it after the game, and I was a bit 50-50 about what I thought when I took some time to have a look at it.

“That is the first time I have had it now where I knew 10 minutes into the game that I had lost him [Tedesco] for two weeks, so that wasn’t a great feeling.

“Based on all of that at the moment, they will need to let us know whether that was 10 minutes or a send-off, but where we need to get to, I don’t know. I’ll sit on the fence on this one."