Joseph Suaalii was Monday hailed as a “freak” by his Australian midfield partner Len Ikitau while head coach Joe Schmidt said the former NRL star’s debut was “confidence-boosting”.

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But according to multiple reports, Suaalii is set to head back to the bench ahead of Australia’s Grand Slam Test against Wales in Cardiff on Monday morning (3.10am AEDT).

Both ESPN and The Roar reported on Friday morning that Suaalii will move to the bench with Samu Kerevi to enter the starting line-up.

Kerevi was recalled to the squad for the game against England and expected to start, but ended up settling into a bench role as midfield cover having not played in a Test since last year’s World Cup.

The starting role will give Schmidt an opportunity to get an extended look at Kerevi, who spoke earlier in the month of wanting to prove he can be a dominant force on the world stage again having suffered an ACL rupture at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

While Schmidt could have decided to keep Suaalii in the starting side by moving him to the wing in place of the injured Dylan Pietsch (calf), he is reportedly instead set to promote Max Jorgensen to the run-on team after his winning try last week.

Suaalii marked his first professional game of rugby union with a man-of-the-match display during Australia’s 42-37 win over England in a Twickenham thriller last weekend.

That performance cames less than a month after his multi-million dollar switch from rugby league, with Suaalii producing a superb one-handed pass that created Australia’s opening try for full-back Tom Wright.

“He is a freak, man,” Ikitau said of Suaalii ahead of Monday’s clash.

“Just being able to play next to him and see what he can do on the field is awesome. And we are just expecting more from him now he has had his first game.

“We saw all of that at training. He came in, he did what he needed to learn and just showcased his skills on the field.

“I thought it was awesome to see him defending the 13 channel. He just wanted to be involved and wanted to get the ball.”

Suaalii was even the subject of praise from Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe, who described his performance against England as “seriously impressive”.

“He made the game look pretty easy, didn’t he?” Anscombe said.

“But look, it is going to be a great challenge and I am sure he will probably start in the midfield.

“I thought he had a sensational debut. He was dangerous, good in the air and quite a rangy player.”

Wales rugby coach Warren Gatland, meanwhile, said he believes “the game needs superstars” as his struggling side prepare to face Suaalii.

“I think the impressive thing about him was his off-loading game — just being able to get the ball away,” said Gatland.

“He didn’t get a lot of opportunities with the ball in hand from an attacking perspective but it was just being able to get the ball he got away over the top for a try and not die with the ball.” The veteran New Zealander added: “I thought he fitted in pretty well for someone to be thrown into his first professional game at international level at Twickenham.

“I think the game needs people like that. The game needs superstars. For him to be named man-of-the-match as well, and to create that hype.

“We all know and are pretty aware that rugby in Australia needs a boost. And hopefully for him, that is the kind of boost that he may provide, particularly in Sydney with the Swans being involved in the AFL (Australian Rules) final.”

Wales face Australia following a 24-19 defeat by Fiji at the Principality Stadium last weekend, a loss which left them still without a Test win since they beat Georgia in a World Cup pool match in Nantes over a year ago.