Rugby Australia (RA) chair Hamish McLennan says the NRL's reaction to Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i's decision to switch codes has been "hysterical".
McLennan also described RA's recruitment of Sua'ali'i as an investment in Australian rugby union, amid calls the money spent on his contract could be allocated to the grassroots level.
RA confirmed Sua'ali'i's signing on Saturday, with the 19-year-old to see out his Sydney Roosters NRL contract, which expires at the end of 2024.
His RA deal – which will see him join the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby Pacific — runs until at least the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, which Australia will host.
The move makes Sua'ali'i eligible to play for the Wallabies when the British and Irish Lions tour Australia in 2025.
Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys was among those in the NRL to make jibes about the Sua'ali'i code switch, suggesting he "will get terribly bored" playing rugby union.
Sua'ali'i's Roosters teammate Brandon Smith also could not help himself with some light-hearted comments in the media, saying the Samoa international could take "that easy money" in rugby union and "come back to the real sport".
McLennan – who would not confirm how much Sua'ali'i would earn through his contract – said he had not taken any of the barbs seriously.
He said rugby union would offer Sua'ali'i opportunities he could not get in rugby league.
"It's been hysterical, really," McLennan told ABC Sport Daily.
"They're cry-babies. So, they've lost their rising star, their talent. Joseph has made the choice. I think they should respect his choice and they're attacking his age and having a swing.
"The reality is, our guys travel the world. The current Wallaby crop will be playing at the third-biggest sporting event [Rugby World Cup] in France … our players get life experience that you wouldn't get anywhere."
McLennan defends 'expensive' contract
With media reports speculating Sua'ali'i's contract may be worth $1.6 million per season, questions have been raised about whether RA should spend the money on other areas of the game.
Retired Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock told AAP on Monday if Sua'ali'i's contract was worth the figure quoted in the media, it "could have kept 19 or 20 other players" in RA's professional system.
Smith said the money could be used at the sport's grassroots level, while the current state of funding for women's rugby union in Australia has also been cited as needing a significant boost.
While acknowledging Sua'ali'i — a former Australian Schoolboys and Under 18 rugby union representative — came with a "reassuringly expensive" price tag, McLennan has ignored the criticism.
He said Sua'ali'i's move to rugby union would provide a considerable return on investment for the entire code.
McLennan argued it had the potential to attract greater media exposure — especially through future broadcast rights — that would provide financial reward.
"We're going to be growing the pie," he said.
"With the current [RA] board, I would say we have been the most prudent board in the code's history. Just between 2020 and now through COVID, we've cut $40 million worth of costs out of the organisation, so we're putting it back now.
"We're happy to pay our players well. That's a good thing if you want to come and play rugby because you get to travel the world and you will be looked after by us at the elite level.
"But if we sell our media rights for more, we'll have more money to put back into grassroots, so this is a strategy that will work and the public need to understand that."
McLennan said RA would continue to look at recruiting NRL players, even naming South Sydney captain and NSW State of Origin representative Cameron Murray — who played rugby union as a schoolboy — as a potential target.
"Our elite players, at the end of the day, will earn more than NRL players and we're happy to pay them well," he said.
