ROCHDALE – Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga is well aware of the threat posed by Samoa fullback Joseph Suaalii, and has devised a plan to counteract him.
Suaalii might have been playing for Australia in this tournament, but instead chose to represent his Samoan heritage and has impressed in blue as the tournament has gone on.
“He is (a weapon) but so is James Tedesco and we’ll come up with a plan to nullify it,” Meninga told reporters.
“We know he is going to run the ball back hard and we have to handle it. That’s what rugby league is about, confrontation, and we’ll come up with the right answers.
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“He’s a great player and he’s only 19 years of age. He has the skill set and he’s going to have a huge career. We’ll do our homework on the Samoans and we’ll try to pick threats and weaknesses out, but as we proved against New Zealand it’s not pretty sometimes.”
Meninga said he was pleased that Suaalii had made an early call on his eligibility and picked to go for his heritage.
“I’m pretty happy that he made the choice,” said Mal. “That’s why I pushed from the middle of the year (on clearer eligibility) I want players playing with passion. Obviously he wants to play for Samoa because he’s got a passion for it.
“We are no less passionate than any other team. It’s been great for the game for players to play for their ancestral nations. And it proves a point, they’ve got to the final.”
The Kangaroos will roll out the same 17-man line-up for the final with Daly Cherry-Evans and Reuben Cotter again the standby players in the 19-man squad.
“I am very happy with the attitude and performances of all 24 players throughout the World Cup but keeping the same team for the final is a bonus,” Meninga said.
“We all are very aware that our goal hasn’t been achieved yet and fully realise we are on the cusp of something very few players have had the opportunity to do.”
Kangaroos squad
(alphabetical order)
9. Josh Addo-Carr
6. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
13. Pat Carrigan
2. Daly Cherry-Evans
14. Nathan Cleary
16. Reuben Cotter
17. Angus Crichton
18. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
20. Harry Grant
4. Valentine Holmes
3. Ben Hunt
21. Liam Martin
8. Latrell Mitchell
7. Cameron Munster
11. Cameron Murray (vc)
1. James Tedesco (c)
5. Jake Trbojevic
10. Jack Wighton
24. Isaah Yeo (vc)
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
IRL washes hands of Radley investigation
The investigation into Victor Radley’s alleged fight with Ireland player James Bentley has been dropped as authorities in the UK washed their hands of it.
Though the NRL Integrity Unit has attempted to investigate, tournament organisers say that, as the incident happened more than 24 hours after the final game, it is beyond their scope of jurisdiction.
Radley is alleged to have headbutted Bentley in the England team hotel as the team drowned their sorrows on Sunday evening (UK time).
Bentley, who did not play for England and instead represented his Irish heritage, was with club teammates at the hotel and got into an altercation with England coach Shaun Wane, with Radley leaping to his defence.
IRL chair Troy Grant spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald on the state of the investigation. “The facts that I’m aware of is that an invitation was extended to the Irish player who came into the English camp and team environment,” he said.
“Something has occurred. All players will get a chance to state their case, tell their stories to the appropriate authorities they report to. The NRL in relation to Victor will make a determination.”
Ireland RL is unlikely to make any investigation into Bentley, as their tournament was over two weeks ago and thus their player was acting well beyond its jurisdiction.
(Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images)
Klein to control final
Ashley Klein is to cap off a dream season by refereeing the Men’s World Cup Final after being named to the role today. It completes a set that includes the NRL Grand Final and all three State of Origin games and cements his place as the best ref in the world.
Jack Smith and Warren Turley will be his assistances, with Super League ref Chris Kendall in the video referee role and Gerard Sutton on hand as back up.
Belinda Sharpe will be in charge of the Women’s Final between the Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns, with Wyatt Raymond and Darian Furner on the lines. Kasey Badger is the reserve and Adam Gee will be in the video referee’s chair.
Luka Nowitzki
Roar Rookie
I want Origin to go back to being an Australian Trial. Origin players to be paid less so players aren't discouraged from playing for their Country of choice. Add more international games to the stand alone origin weekend so the Samoa's, Tonga, NZ's etc are still playing and earning rep $ Making Origin less about money and more about being an Australian trial, would strengthen International football.
Redcap
Roar Guru
If you have a point, it's lost on me.
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
How does Victor radley get off when other players play up overseas they are subject to NRL sanctions until the sheep move on and forget about it. BTW did Redcliffe get Roosters first up because Easts have most/most diverse players in RLWC? Aus, NZ, Samoa, Tonga, England - 8 players in all ??
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Yet ACT born and bred players can play for NSW ??
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
1 punch is your evidence for 40 years of 3 games a season. Meninga said he used to take it easy on his canberra teammates- is that evidence as well
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
It is now - 90% of Samoa players were born in Aus or do you want whites only?
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Klein tried to even it up anyway which is why he gets picked - ruling a penalty for obstruction when Aussie was attacking and had no influence on the play which is the criteria when a try is reviewed
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Those 2 have lived in Aussie more than 5 years and maybe are citizens but just shows eligibility is laughable. Its not Aussie born - its grandparents and BTW they cant play SOO if they werent playing in Qld before age 13. So you have laughable situation where you could be born in NZ arrived in Aus at 12 but have Cook Island heritage meaning you can play SOO and 2 other countries
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Samoa are more Airds than Apia - apparently only 2 squad members born in Samoa and they migrated at 2 and 6 respectively. Mitchell is great player but does some odd things occasionally (ie going for intercept) when Aussie cover was excellent
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Souths fans are ineligible to comment on neutral ground discussions.
SPM
Roar Rookie
English refs not necessarily neutral towards Australia
Redcap
Roar Guru
He’s just after attention. Doesn’t really believe much of the stuff he posts. Best to ignore him. I suspect he’s lonely – poor guy.
Phil
Roar Rookie
Sheek, that's enough mate. You are going stale with your posts. We all know by now you don't like the WC setup regarding nationalities. By hammering it into overdrive you lose the impact of your statements to the point where the first sentence or two is enough to tell us "here he goes again. don't have to read any more." There are times when more can be said in fewer words and in your case almost nothing is said in a lot of words. Sit back, relax and have a beer. It'll do you good.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Sheek, had enough time on the throne to formulate a word about NZers Nanai, Tualagi, and Papali'i being part of the Qld squad, and the first two in the Kangaroo's camp ?
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Without Samoa and Tonga, these players aren't born. Is this what you would have preferred ?
sheek
Roar Guru
Do many of you guys think deeply about anything? So in your rush to be "entertained" by all means & at any cost, you're happy for the Australian Kangaroos to be ripped apart & destroyed, because this is what is happening. Samoa didn't make the Samoan rugby league team what it is, Australia did. It was Australia that made 21 of the 24 Samoan players want they are today. The remaining 3 benefited from being part of the NRL set-up, which also made them better players. 21 of the Samoan team were either born here, came here as pre-teens, or teens. Two came in their early 20s. Only one remained in the NZ system. It was the Australian junior system right up to the NRL that made them, not Samoa. They are, for all intents & purposes, Australian. How do they thank Australia? By declaring their allegiance to Samoa. Had their families remained in Samoa, they would still be fluffing around as nobodies. Australia made them. Australia also made the players who have declared their heritage allegiance to Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Lebanon, Ireland, Greece & Italy. Australia also made the NZ & PNG players better for their participation in Oz rugby league systems. Now the new coach of the Indigenous team wants them represented at the next world cup. Another partition & disintegration of the Australian Kangaroos. This is the new order, everyone has their hand out wanting to slice the Australian Kangaroos into more tiny bits. If it was the intention of the IRL to weaken the grip of Australia on the world cup, they are in the process of succeeding spectacularly. So you all want these more fake, pretentious international teams to fuel you greater entertainment? Good luck to you. Let's just shut down the Kangaroos right now, & what's left, split them into NSW, Queensland & Indigenous. None of them will probably be strong enough alone, but that's irrelevant. It's all about the "entertainment". A once proud rugby league nation, the strongest for pretty much 50 consecutive years, will be broken up to satisfy the selfish, unthinking masses.
sheek
Roar Guru
Jimmy - watch this space.
astro
Roar Rookie
40 tackles would make him the leader in tackles per game for a lock, but I get your point. Yes, he'd do more defending, but mushi's point still stands...The Roosters would benefit from getting Manu more involved and closer to the ruck, but no.6 doesn't seem like the right position for him. As for Teddy, he was 2nd in the comp for run meters behind only Edwards at FB, and almost 1000mtrs ahead of 3rd place Gutherson. He's 1st in tackle busts and line breaks, amongst regular FBs...I'm not sure you can question his effort. He's also only 3yrs older than Manu, so its not exactly the 'old' guy being replaced by the 'young' guy.
TheRobberzDog
Roar Rookie
Just found out the Samoan squad has two Samoan born players, Tonga only had one. That just doesn't feel right, at all. Feel for the homegrown talent missing out to AU & NZ born players due to lineage.
London Panther
Roar Rookie
I didn’t see him as being all that dominant this year, but that is a pretty impressive list of accomplishments voted on by peers. I think the point still stands; Roosters can be ruthless about getting rid of really great players on the way down for those on the way up. I stand by my view that it will be a consideration over the coming seasons.