Wallabies coach Eddie Jones claims ‘three or four big-name NRL stars’ are ready to defect to rugby

Eddie Jones has cheekily fired a shot at the NRL, saying some of the code’s biggest stars are ready to follow Roosters young gun Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii by defecting to rugby union.

The Wallabies coach has never made a secret of his high regard for rugby league and said his biggest priority when he returned to the helm of the national team in January was to ‘recruit back the guys who were in rugby’ and went to the NRL.

Union got one of their targets in Suaalii, kicking off a war of words between the codes after he signed a rich deal that will see him officially make the switch next year.

A grinning Jones fanned the flames on Sunday when he told The Breakdown, ‘We’ve got about three or four that are ready to sign, mate – big names.

‘I can’t tell you now [who they are] but no, I think it adds to the competitive tension.

The defection of Roosters star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (pictured) put rugby union on the front foot in its battle with rugby league and kicked off a war of words between the codes

‘We need to get rugby back competing as a winter sport, and by signing a guy like Suaalii, it helps that.

‘If we sign two or three others, it’ll help that and it’ll also show kids.

‘A lot of the kids now go to a big private school and by the time they’re 15, if they’re good – if they’re good readers of the game, they catch and pass – they’ve got a Rabbitohs contract or a Roosters contract in front of them.

‘And the inevitability of that is hard to stop because we’re competing against 17 [NRL] clubs that all have the recruitment budget of Rugby Australia.

‘So we’ve got to get some of those players back, and ideally we keep more of them at a young age … but then to get a few of them back after they’ve done an apprenticeship in rugby league is fantastic.’

Current NRL players who starred while playing union at school include Souths’ Cameron Murray, the Roosters’ Angus Crichton and Parramatta’s Will Penisini, who was a teammate of Suaalii’s at Sydney’s prestigious King’s school.

Other big NRL stars with experience playing union at the schoolboy level include Souths and Blues lock Cameron Murray (pictured, with ball)

Parramatta’s Will Penisini (with ball) was a teammate of Suaalii’s as they played rugby at Sydney’s prestigious King’s school

Jones’ respect for rugby league was on display earlier this year when he brought Brad Davis in to help develop the Wallabies’ attack ahead of the World Cup, with the Aussie-born ex-player spending a decade playing league in England.

And just last week he got NRL Immortal Andrew Johns to take the Wallabies’ playmakers through a training session in Sydney, describing the Newcastle Knights legend’s skills as ‘second to none’.

‘That’s the great thing about sport in Australia, isn’t it? We’ve got this competitive tension but we also have great cooperation,’ Jones said after the session.

‘It’s not something we planned but when there’s an opportunity to mix, we will. If we feel there’s someone from rugby league that can help us, I certainly don’t have any discrimination against the sport.’