Su'A's sacrifice for Bennett after 'going through motions' at Broncos

Jaydn Su'A is in cardinal and myrtle 12 months later than Anthony Seibold originally intended, and Wayne Bennett has the promising back-rower for much cheaper too.

Su'A reunited with Bennett at the Rabbitohs at the end of June after a six-week exile to Queensland Cup hastened his exit from Brisbane.

Last year Seibold and Souths pursued Su'A with serious interest, reportedly to the tune of a $1.5 million, three-year deal, only for the 21-year-old to recommit to Bennett and the Broncos.

But with Su'A fast falling from favour under the new regime at Red Hill, NRL.com understands the Rabbitohs picked him up for a steal compared to the offer tabled last year.

It's believed Su'A's current deal falls short of Souths' previous offer by a six-figure amount each season, and his move to Redfern required a pay cut from his two-year Broncos deal signed last July.

The sweetener for Su'A is an option in his favour for 2021, as well as the obvious caveat of working with Bennett again rather than languishing in reserve grade.

Su'A returns to Suncorp Stadium on Friday for the first time since being released by Seibold, insisting the pair parted ways on good terms after "going through the motions" during his time under the new Broncos coach.

"I had a good chat with Seibs before I left," Su'A tells NRL.com.

"I just told him that I needed to chase the opportunity and he was more than happy for me to do that. He understood so we left on good terms.

"I needed that opportunity to be honest. The extra security was good but it wasn't a big factor. I just knew I needed to be pushing for that first grade spot and Souths is the place to do that.

"I didn't notice until I got down here, but as soon as I arrived at Souths I was training harder and putting more effort in.

"The challenge every day of proving myself, at Brisbane I guess I was going through the motions a little bit, not giving it everything I could.

"I realised though that I don't want to be that guy that goes from club to club.

"I want to stay at Souths and really establish myself and take my game to the next level."

Bennett has been backing the Samoan international to do just that for some time now.

The veteran coach made Su'A the youngest Broncos forward in the club's history to start a game when he gave him a 2016 debut at the age of 18, and rates him as one of the cleanest hitters he's seen alongside the likes of Peter Ryan, Trevor GIllmeister and Tonie Carroll.

Su'A recently spent another three weeks in Canterbury Cup to build up his minutes and match-fitness, before returning to first grade in last week's loss to the Bulldogs.

With John Sutton retiring at season's end Souths have Su'A earmarked for a starting back-row berth next year.

Seibold too had high hopes for Su'A when he first arrived at Brisbane, having coached him in Queensland junior rep teams.

But with an abundance of promising young forwards and Su'A's standards slipping by his own admission, a Redfern reunion with Bennett became more attractive than ever.

"Wayne rang and just asked me why I was playing Q Cup, what was going on," Su'A says.

"I'm very lucky, Wayne's got a lot of belief in me and that gives me a lot of confidence.

"Wayne told me there was an opportunity here for me. He didn't tell me though that it would come straight away.

"I was obviously going to have to work for it, but he wanted me to come down and get me back to where I needed to be.

"I wasn't getting game time and I needed something different. I needed to get out of my comfort zone. I trust Wayne."