{"id":442286,"date":"2026-01-28T05:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T05:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/442286\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T05:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T05:55:08","slug":"crichtons-looming-rugby-switch-could-open-floodgates-for-nrl-stars-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/442286\/","title":{"rendered":"Crichton\u2019s looming rugby switch could open floodgates for NRL stars – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joseph Su’aalii<\/a> believes Angus Crichton’s impending switch to rugby union could act as a catalyst for more NRL<\/a> players to seriously consider crossing codes, with a home World Cup fast emerging as a powerful pull factor.<\/p>\n

Crichton, who played alongside Su’aalii at the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, is set to depart the NRL<\/a> at the end of the 2026 season, with Rugby Australia<\/a> set to accelerate its push to secure established league talent ahead of the 2027 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Crichton’s situation, Su’aalii said seeing elite players successfully transition only reinforces belief among those still in the NRL<\/a> system.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see one person do it, and the possibility opens up,\u201d Su’aalii told the Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched Israel Folau<\/a> go across, Wendell Sailor, Karmichael Hunt<\/a>, you start thinking, \u2018Why not? I can do that as well.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 03: Joseph Sua’ali’i warms up during a New South Wales Blues State of Origin Training Session at NSWRL Centre of Excellence on June 03, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old said that mindset is now filtering through younger players in particular, but also resonates with experienced NRL<\/a> stars weighing their long-term futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s been a key factor for a lot of young kids coming through, and even older players too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Crichton’s physical profile and work ethic have long made him an appealing rugby prospect, and Su’aalii believes his former teammate has the attributes to thrive at Test level if fast-tracked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not sure exactly what path they’ll take with Angus, but whatever his journey is, he works hard, he’s tough as hell on the field, and he’s a great person off it,\u201d Su’aalii said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those key characteristics are going to help him succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Roosters will lose both Crichton and Mark Nawaqanitawase<\/a> to rugby, while Zac Lomax<\/a> has also been linked to a potential code switch, a sign that union’s renewed recruitment drive is gaining traction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joseph Su’aalii believes Angus Crichton’s impending switch to rugby union could act as a catalyst for more NRL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-442286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}