LEE RADFORD has not been the only Castleford Tigers man enjoying life in the Samoa camp during the World Cup.
He also brought along the club’s head of analysis, Danny Blundell, when he joined the squad ahead of the tournament.
Samoa’s World Cup got off to the worst possible start with a thrashing at the hands of England on the opening day.
But they have improved considerably since, qualifying from their group thanks to huge wins over Greece and France and setting up Sunday’s quarter-final showdown with Pacific rivals Tonga in Warrington.
“After the disappointment of the first game, to slowly progress in the areas I thought we were really poor in has been pleasing for us,” said Radford.
“It’s been different, I’ve done some things I never thought I would do in my life.
“I never thought you’d see me wearing a skirt and dancing round with my shirt off in front of a rugby team either! There’s been some unusual circumstances.”
Blundell says that he and Radford have brought some of their ideas into the Samoa camp, but will also take some ideas from Matt Parish’s side into Castleford.
“I joined Radders last year and he’s been great for my development. I’ve learnt a lot about the technical side of defence with him and we’ve brought that into Samoa,” he said.
“I’ve learnt a lot of the different stuff that they look at in the NRL, they’re really big on kicking and kicking completion rates.
“We’ll be looking to bring that into Castleford Tigers next year and that’ll stand us in good stead.
“Radders and I have learnt a lot from the playing group of Samoa that we can bring to Castleford.”
