And I've just read Hamish the mouth has sworn he will get another leaguey for ONLY 1.2m a year, some guy called Haas.
Wouldn't you love to be a young talented kid in rugby ATM?
I've just started a little bit of data analysis re: Sua'ali'i, which I'll post here, for people not too familiar with the digital media space.
The value this kid has provided Rugby Australia is already immense.
You can estimate this by looking at the videos he's generated on YouTube / Instagram / TikTok with reference to Rugby Australia, and then calculate a hypothetical value of what it would've taken to 'buy' that space via paid ads on the platform based upon the average CPM for that platform (this is the cost per thousand impressions).
For reference, I'm currently
7 videos in on Tik Tok alone, which has an average CPM in Australia of $8-10. I imagine that there is likely another 100-500 videos on the topic that have been posted, so I'm barely scratching the surface on one platform out of half a dozen.
Based on those seven videos alone, he's generated $10,800 - 13,500 worth of media space for Rugby Australia, and he hasn't even laced up his boots for a single training run.
I imagine that this represents
less than 1.00% of the total value across all platforms that he has already provided. Keep in mind that he won't be on the payroll for some time yet.
If you're a young kid, the answer is simple and you have two options. Let's illustrate it in boxing terms. You can become so incredibly talented and successful that there is demand for your work, e.g. Oleksandr Usyk, or you can come with an enormous built in reach / marketability and you can be compenstated for that also, e.g. Jake Paul.
If you can do both, e.g. Tyson Fury, the sky is the limit. Suualii currently has a bit of both, and in terms of driving key material outcomes for rugby within Australia, he's likely already contributed more than all Super Rugby wingers currently playing.