Frustrated flyer Suliasi Vunivalu has revealed he wants to stay in rugby but won’t make a call on his future until his juices are flowing again on the field.
The former NRL ace is back training at full pace with the Queensland Reds after getting on top of a crushing run of hamstring issues that required two surgeries.
He can finally focus on a comeback date of April 15 which will allow his football to do the talking.
The dynamic finisher only managed to play seven games of rugby for the Reds in 2021 and a brief and teasing time in camp with a Wallabies training squad ended with injury.
He’s off-contract at the end of 2022. Returning to rugby league in 2023 is a possibility with the Dolphins. The NRL’s new club and Wayne Bennett are said to be interested but the super coach has no track record of paying big dollars for wingers.
“I’d like to stay in rugby but I’m not going to make any decision (on 2023) until I’m back on the field and have played three or four games,” Vunivalu said.
In his first interview since news broke of a possible return to the NRL, the former premiership-winner with the Melbourne Storm said he is focused solely on a return with the Reds.
“I ran at full pace last week. I’m back in the main training group with contact and I’ll be fit to play after the Brumbies game on Saturday,” Vunivalu said.
“I had a lot of scans on the hamstring before the doctors gave me the thumbs up in January to run fast again. It’s exciting.
“I never want to be talking about my hamstring again. Scoring tries, catching kicks...that’s my job.”
The April 15 clash against the Melbourne Rebels in Melbourne is shaping as his comeback date with the Reds having a bye after Saturday night’s big clash against the Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium.
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News that Vunivalu still wants to make a strong go of it in rugby is just want former Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri wanted to hear.
“He’s a top liner. He’ll want to show what he can do out on the field before he makes his next decision,” Tuqiri said recently.
“He can potentially go to a World Cup (in France in 2023). It’s got to be a big lure. I know it was one of the big reasons I switched to rugby and I enjoyed two of the best experiences I had in football at World Cups (2003 and 2007).”
