St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan has rubbished rumours the Dragons could make a play for Joseph Sua'ali'i if the Roosters and NSW centre's move to rugby falls through.
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Media reports swirled earlier this week that Rugby Australia may not be able to pay Sua'ali'i, who was expected to switch to the 15-a-side code next year.
With the Dragons to lose Parramatta-bound Zac Lomax from next year, reports surfaced that Flanagan was keen to lure the 20-year-old to Wollongong.
But the coach denied this was the case, when he spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the Dragons clash against the Wests Tigers at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
"If Rugby Australia can't afford him, how can we afford him?" Flanagan asked.
"I haven't even investigated that.
"He is a quality player and a quality young man, I know that much.
"I had a bit to do with him and his younger brother in the young academy side that I had a bit to do with, so quality family, quality young man but I'll leave that to another day."
Flanagan was happy to comment on Sua'ali'i's high-shot on Queensland fullback Reece Walsh in Wednesday night's State of Origin fixture in Sydney, which saw Sua'ali'i sent off just eight minutes into his first game for NSW.
"I think in the modern game, anyone realistically knows it's a send off," he said.
"It's unfortunate, there's all circumstances to it , whether it was Reece lowered his body position, whether it's taller man on smaller man, it doesn't matter, it hit him on the head, and in the modern game you can't do it.
"Joseph is a fantastic kid. He is a wonderful kid off the field and he competes really hard on the field. There was no intent, it's just one of those things that happens in our game and I think it was treated in the right manner."
Flanagan added from a Dragons perspective it was good to see three of their players perform well in the State of Origin arena.
St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hunt and forward Jaydn Su'a played starring roles in Queensland's 38-10 win, with Hunt bagging two tries and Su'a setting up a try.
Zac Lomax finished on the losing side in his debut outing for NSW but played strongly and scored one of NSW's two tries.
"Zac was unfortunately on the losing side but I thought Zac went really well and contributed and had a good game," Flanagan said.
"It was good to see Jaydn back in that arena.
"He's worked really hard for the whole preseason. He was one of our best trainers and jumped into it and it was a goal of his to get back in that arena.
"He's done that and he played pretty well. The challenge now for the whole three of them, probably not Ben, he has been there for a bit, is to back it up this weekend for their club footy and then continue on game two and three."
Flanagan said the trio had pulled up well and were a good chance of playing against the Tigers.
"We haven't decided yet but it's good to have them back," he said.
"We're coming up against a good Tigers team. They've got some good players without doubt.
"We played them earlier in the yaer and tomorrow will be another challenge.
"We're going to worry about the Dragons, making sure that we turn up with the right attitude and be consistent."
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
