MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Wallabies hopeful Tane Edmed has no problem with Joseph Suaalii’s lucrative contract and expects the rugby league convert will be worth the money in the 15-man code.
Both players are looking to impress Australia selectors at a training camp in Canberra this week but Suaalii arrives with great expectations and a three-year deal worth a reported A$5 million ($3.36 million).
The money would be an eye-watering sum for a top Wallabies player, let alone one that has yet to play a single test, but Edmed felt it was justified for 21-year-old Suaalii, who played four years at the Sydney Roosters.
“I think he’s earned it, to be honest with you,” Edmed told reporters in Canberra of his new teammate at the New South Wales Waratahs.
“No one’s going to hold any hard feelings against him for it.
“If he came in here and he wasn’t a good bloke and probably didn’t work that hard (it might be different).
“But he’s a great man, super mature. You can tell why he’s gotten to this level that he has because he’s not just a talent.
“You can see he wants to work hard.”
Edmed, once billed as a future Wallabies flyhalf, has arrived at camp with less fanfare than Suaalii but is just as determined to break into the national side after a spell in provincial rugby in New Zealand.
The 24-year-old generated rave reviews in his short stint at North Harbour and said the experience had helped him reset after some frustration with injuries and form at the Waratahs.
“It’s pretty crazy what a new environment can do, a fresh start and a new perspective,” he said.
“I think it definitely helped me confidence-wise, to see that I could do that.
“Obviously there will be challenges still ahead but it made more confident in my abilities, for sure.”
($1 = 1.4872 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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