I could watch Samoa play rugby league all day – seven days a week and twice on Sunday.
In an entertaining Four Nations the Samoans have been the surprise packet and the clear shining light in a tournament that boasts three league giants New Zealand, England and Australia.
Against England in week one Samoa turned up to play. The underdogs completed 18 from 20 sets in the first half (in comparison England completed 7 from 13), a statistic that would put a smile on any NRL coach’s face, and the full time score of 32-26 didn’t really represent the reality of the game.
Once the full time whistle sounded James Graham, Garth Widdop and the motley crew of Englishmen knew they were very lucky to out-last the Samoans.
Week two Samoa travelled to New Zealand to face the Kiwis in their backyard. The Kiwis were expected to roll over their opposition and totally dominate the game – only problem was that someone forgot to give the Samoans the script, or if they did it was binned. Samoa outplayed the Kiwis for the majority of the game, with New Zealand just getting home 14-12.
Given their dominance over the Kangaroos the week before, New Zealand avoided a very embarrassing loss. For my money the better team lost.
The best thing about the Samoans is that, in the tradition of the great underdogs, they relish playing like they have nothing to lose.
With the greatest respect to those playing for Samoa, they don’t possess any of the superstars of the game like Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk or Daly Cherry-Evans. But they do possess a team of men with an unrelenting commitment to the task at hand and to each other, and they are not phased one damn bit about the makeup of the opposition.
As Frank Pritchard was quoted as saying after the weekends game, they are not “here to make up the numbers; the boys wear the jersey with pride and honour.” In 160 minutes of football they have proven that with interest.
Much of the credit must go to the coach Matt Parish and his coaching staff, who have convened a great player group while also doing the required homework on the opposition. By doing this he has, two weeks running, put his charges in a position of winning both games.
So bring on the Australians. The Kangaroos’ biggest issue is they have everything to lose – they will be desperate to win and are facing an opposition who will be playing their last game of the tournament with nothing to lose.
Not a good combination. I can smell an upset.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I think one of the answers to that problem is to ensure that the fourth qualifying nation in the Four Nations receives the same (or at least similar) level of financial compensation as that of the Big Three. By having these tournaments more often, particularly events like the European Cup and the Pacific Cup, you create more opportunities for meaningful financial recompense. Players would no longer need to choose Origin because of the money. The quality attraction would also diminish as these internationals improve. It might take some time to for this to occur but it is a direction I think worth following.
Darren Bishop
Guest
Thank you
Cathar Treize
Guest
Yes, rugby league is played in Samoa. They have a domestic comp which is growing & presence in schools. Hyundai is a major sponsor of rugby league in Samoa as well. In terms of Samoan locals in their national team, when they play local pacific neighbours then there is more of a domestic representation. However, to compete in the 4Nations, very proud NRL based Samoans, as we can witness presently, allow Samoa to be far more competitive then if there were solely domestic based players in the team. The make up of the Samoan side which played the USA recently had a far greater representation of domestic players. That team was http://rugbyleaguesamoa.com/rls-teams/toa-samoa/135-2013-toa-samoa-usa-test-match-team
Darren Bishop
Guest
Can any tell me, Is Rugby League Played in Samoa and if so have any of them gone on to play fore Samoa.
Dean
Guest
I can't see an upset but I'm hoping for a tight game. The first two rounds have been pretty good and it would be awesome to keep that going. Absolutely agree about Parish and co., they've worked wonders. I'm hoping their performance at this tournament will help the games popularity in the islands. That would help the development of local talent. Personally I feel that NZ and Australia have quite a bit of right to take players, financial benefits aside, the majority of them are either born/raised or developed (learnt league) in those countries and the players themselves would choose either country before Samoa.
cedric
Guest
gotta share the money evenly for this series, and change the dumb SOO eligability rules and then we will have real international footy. When these boys are offered 100k for SOO what does the footy world expect, and when they are offered more money to play for Oz. The world body has got to open their eyes and not just focus on their own agendas!
Samoa were robbed
Guest
Loved watching theses guys take it up to the Kiwis last Saturday. Keen, enthusiastic, hard running, I reckon the Aussies will have their hands full. In the end it looked like the refs had a big say in how this game panned out. From memory, Kiwis got the last 7 penalties of the game, giving them the chance to get within scoring range. While I am not suggesting the penalties were not there, it seemed the Kiwis were regularly inside the 10 and regularly not square at marker, offences that the refs seemed to find with regularity in favour of the Kiwis. Again loved the hustle that the Samoans brought, very entertaining, watchout Aussies.
kiwiinoz
Guest
it is a disgrace how NZ and OZ can pick the Polynesian teams to pieces at will and get away with it. How is the game going to grow internationally when this can happen. Sure, let them play for QLD and NSW, but only for their country of birth or whom they choose, unable to change for a five year period.
Steve
Guest
It would be awesome if they could bring in a couple of marqueet players. Imagine if they actually had 3 Samoans playing for them.
df1
Guest
The samoan team needs to stay as a whole and not poached by other nations or by the state of origin. With milford on the outer because of the queensland origin i can see the toa as a stepping stone for some players add into the mix of when toa will be in a tornament again, seeing that the next 4 nations they arent included. I can just hope to be able to see them play next year
Jay C
Roar Guru
Samoa have been awesome. A real quality halfback would probably have seen them topple at least one of NZ or England. Unfortunately their team will be picked apart by Australia now. Daniel Vidot could get a start for QLD in Origin depending on injuries, and likewise Josh.