The man who unearthed the most sought-after teenager in Australian sport – South Sydney junior Joseph Suaalii – has launched a blistering attack on Rugby Australia and leapt to the defence of breakfast radio king Alan Jones.

Sydney art dealer and Rabbitohs junior Steve Nasteski has labelled RA boss Raelene Castle “delusional” and “desperate” over the Wallabies’ repeated attempts to land the signature of South Sydney’s emerging superstar.

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Castle created a furore on Wednesday when the under-siege RA chief executive told a rugby union breakfast: “Alan Jones’ comment that Joseph Suaalii has signed for Souths is not correct.

Round 20

“We’re still very deep in discussions with him.”

In reality, Suaalii is contracted to the Rabbitohs as an NRL development player until October 31 next year and is such an outstanding prospect the 16-year-old is already included in the club’s NRL salary cap.

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Joseph Suaalii with Wayne Bennett and John Sutton after signing with South Sydney. Source: Supplied

“Clearly, Raelene Castle is delusional if she thinks Joseph does not have a contract with South Sydney,” Nasteski said.

“He signed his current three-year deal aged 15 and is already included in the NRL salary cap for Souths as a development player.

“The pressure the Wallabies have been putting on this 16-year-old is ridiculous and completely out of control.

“It’s like they think he’s a teenage Maradona back in 1986 for Argentina, who took an average team on the back of his brilliance to win a World Cup.

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“This shows how desperate rugby union has become and the failings of the sport to develop its own talent.

“Joseph played rugby league from the age of four and only took up rugby union at 11 or 12 and continued playing rugby union because that’s the only football code they play in the GPS school system.”

Nasteski was loathe to get dragged into the public furore over Suaalii’s signature but was so incensed by Castle’s “wild and inaccurate” claims that the eastern suburbs art dealer wanted to set the record straight.

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Nasteski has been a mentor and confidante for the Suaalii family since spotting the Penrith junior playing for Glenmore Park aged 11 and convincing his parents to switch to South Sydney juniors.

“I organised a trial between Glenmore Park and Coogee Wombats, and then Joseph’s parents agreed he could become a South Sydney junior,” he said.

“I quickly told (then Souths coach) Michael Maguire and Shane Richardson ‘I’ve found the kid that’s likely to be better than Greg Inglis in five or six years’ time’.”

Rugby Australia have been attempting to poach the rugby league junior for the past six months after he emerged as a schoolboy star for The Kings School in the GPS rugby competition.

At 196cms and 96kgs, watch his highlights reel and it’s easy to see what all the fuss is about.

New Wallabies coach Dave Rennie personally visited Suaalii to sell the 15-a-side code’s pitch last month, but the attempts will be torpedoed by South Sydney.

The Bunnies have a masterplan in place to table Suaalii the richest contract in the history of Australian sport for a 17-year-old on August 1, the day of his 17th birthday.

New Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has met with the teenage freak. Source: News Corp Australia

While RA boss Castle reportedly admitted rugby would struggle to compete with the money on offer in the NRL, her pitch revolved around the “dream of being an international star”.

“You can be an international star playing at the best rugby grounds in the world,” Castle said.

“You have the support that we’d put around you, so it’s really selling the belief that you can be a Wallaby and play on the world stage, is the dream that we’re looking to sell.”

But Nasteski was happy to tear strips off the struggling code.

“I will never allow Rugby Australia to place such enormous pressure on a 16-year-old boy as the only instrument to save a sinking ship,” Nasteski said.

“There is no better mentor than Wayne Bennett to introduce Joseph into first grade rugby league, and I look forward to him being Bennett’s newest star player in the NRL in the very near future.

“This pre-season just finished, Joseph has trained under Wayne and developed a bond with both the South Sydney coaching staff, the NRL squad and the leadership group at Souths.

“He loved the experience and he will continue to train with the NRL squad during school holidays over the course of 2020.

“He’ll then start a full pre-season at Souths in expectation that he could make his NRL debut in August 2021.

Raelene Castle, pictured with Dave Rennie, has been blasted for her pursuit of Joseph Suaalii. Source: News Corp Australia

“We are currently in negotiations with Souths about an upgraded contract which has the complete support of his parents, Wayne Bennett, Jason Demetriou, Shane Richardson and Blake Solly.”

Suaalii was such a standout in the Harrold Matthews competition for Souths last season that retired dual international Craig Wing labelled the teenager “a combination between Sonny Bill Williams and Greg Inglis”.

Because The Kings School are currently celebrating their 150th season, Suaalii has agreed to forego playing in the SG Ball rugby league competition until his GPS rugby commitments are complete.

Once they’re done in August, Suaalii is expected to progress straight into the Rabbitohs’ Jersey Flegg under 20s side.

“Rugby Australia need to butt out and let Joseph be a 16-year-old boy. He needs to be allowed to finish his schooling and continue maturing,” Nasteski said.

“Rugby started this bun fight, with the new Wallabies coach going to meet him and leaking it to the press.

“It’s a futile and stupid play. Leave him alone. Judge him when he’s 18 years old and playing for South Sydney.”

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