While South Sydney are slammed for losing him and Peter V'landys is fighting to keep him, Joseph Suaalii is sitting back with a sly grin as he prepares to face the Rabbitohs for the first time since his exit.
Despite only turning 19 earlier this month, the high regards and chatter surrounding Suaalii stretches back years, and the receipts don't look promising for South Sydney fans.
Playing his junior rugby league for the club as well as starring in their SG Ball side, Suaalii was touted to be the Rabbitohs' 'next big thing' after some extremely impressive performances at just 16.
However, after refusing several clauses in his contract, the Bunnies were blown out of the water by the Roosters' offer, and another chapter in the Book of Feuds was written.
Now a teenage superstar on the verge of both New South Wales and Kangaroos debuts, there's every chance representative coaches may dangle maiden jerseys in front of Suaalii in a bid to keep him in the game, with Rugby Australia ready to pounce.
Former South Sydney Head of Football, Shane Richardson, believes there was a host of reasons that the Rabbitohs lost the youngster to their arch rivals, especially after poaching one of the Roosters' own.
"We had Latrell Mitchell. He was always going to play fullback. We would have like to have retained him but at the end of the day we felt we could use the money elsewhere to have a more rounded side," Richardson told Fox Sports.
“We didn’t want him to go but the Roosters offered him too much money and we couldn’t match it. He is a freak athlete, there is no doubt about it."
While South Sydney are hammered for losing the teenage star, ARLC chairman Peter V'landys is trying to avoid making the same mistake.
Rugby Australia appears set to offer Suaalii a mammoth deal in order to lure the youngster to cross codes, with rumours continuing to swirl over a potential $10 million deal across five years, and a likely guarantee of appearing for the Wallabies at the next World Cup.
RA chairman Hamish McLennan labelled the multi-million dollar rumour as 'fanciful', V'landys didn't miss when addressing the topic.
“I don’t think Suaalii would go to rugby because he would be bored,” V’landys said.
“At the moment in rugby union, the ball is in play for 33 minutes a game where in rugby league it’s in play for 55 minutes.
“Joseph better have something to do for those 22 minutes a game – maybe he should take his mobile phone out there to see what’s going on, maybe he could do some social media posting.
“I’m confident Joseph won’t go anywhere because he wants to play an exciting, fast and vibrant game, not a slow and hard-to-watch game where they only play 33 minutes. Joseph will be too fit for that.
“They will get a short-term sugar hit but long term, what’s it going to achieve? Nothing. Offering that kind of money to Suaalii, there is no long-term benefit."
Despite V'landys' jabs at the rival code, the NRL can't compete with Rugby Australia's war chest or the world travels that accompanies it.
Having come through The King's School's rugby program alongside Will Penisini, Suaalii has certainly got an interest to play the 15-a-side game at some point, but whether it's now or a way down the road, the ball is in the teenager's court.
” South Sydney Head of Football, Shane Richardson, believes there was a host of reasons that the Rabbitohs lost the youngster to their arch rivals, especially after poaching one of the Roosters’ own.”
It would be nice to know what they were.
Simply being outbid by the Roosters because Souths had spent their money on recruiting Latrell is hardly enough to raise an eyebrow.