Suaalii’s NRL debut looms as Perenara snubs Chooks
ROOSTERS teen sensation Joseph Suaalii is closing in on a highly anticipated NRL debut, but it could come at the expense of fellow whiz kid Sam Walker.
And in another blow for the Bondi club, All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara has rejected the Roosters, instead inking a new deal to remain with New Zealand Rugby and the Hurricanes until the end of 2023.
Already reeling from an astonishing casualty crisis that last week had seven of the regular top-17 players unavailable, now the Roosters are anxiously waiting to see if Walker and star lock Victor Radley will be fit to take on the Cowboys on Saturday.
Walker has been carrying a shoulder injury for weeks and now also has an ankle injury to contend with, suffered in the 31-18 loss to Parramatta.
He was hobbling around in a moon boot post-match at Bankwest Stadium with a low-grade syndesmosis injury.
He is said to be in genuine doubt of playing the Cowboys in what would be the young Queenslander’s first top-grade appearance at Suncorp Stadium, while Radley suffered a first-half concussion against the Eels and did not return.
At least the nine-day turnaround gives Radley his best chance of recovering in time because he would be another huge loss at an increasingly difficult time for the club.
Perenara, 29, was being pursued to join the Roosters this season but opted against switching codes.
Income protection insurance was a factor. The All Blacks star, who earns about $600,000 a year in New Zealand and Japanese rugby, would only have been covered for a career-ending injury on the value of his Roosters
contract, which would have been about $150,000 for the remainder of 2021.
It comes on the back of losing five-eighth Drew Hutchison to broken ribs and a punctured lung suffered in the knees-inthe-back incident that resulted in Dylan Brown copping a threematch ban.
Lachlan Lam will come into contention to replace Hutchison after recovering from his own MCL knee injury.