Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[RP London]

55 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Maybe we should let the kiwis & kangaroos play their games in Australia,at least we’d be sure they turn up.

wouldnt put money on it!

[The Rocket]

 Joseph Suaalii quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning :

 Suaalii’s father Chris is from Samoa, and competing at a World Cup alongside Jarome Luai, Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton and Josh Papalii would give the Pacific nation a red-hot chance at the tournament.

“My dad [Chris] is full Samoan, he’s a proud Samoan, but hopefully I can play for Samoa [at the Cup],” Suaalii said.

“The talent of the Samoans across the NRL is unreal. It would be a special team. I’m a proud Samoan as well.”

Throw in a couple of Leilua`s and the rest, should be a hell of an opening match.

[Exiled Wiganer]

There is some serious Samoan talent. I wonder whether they might have a different coach by then, in which case it could be a very dangerous game for England.

[Eddie]

17 hours ago, The Rocket said:

 Joseph Suaalii quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning :

 Suaalii’s father Chris is from Samoa, and competing at a World Cup alongside Jarome Luai, Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton and Josh Papalii would give the Pacific nation a red-hot chance at the tournament.

“My dad [Chris] is full Samoan, he’s a proud Samoan, but hopefully I can play for Samoa [at the Cup],” Suaalii said.

“The talent of the Samoans across the NRL is unreal. It would be a special team. I’m a proud Samoan as well.”

Throw in a couple of Leilua`s and the rest, should be a hell of an opening match.

Bad news for England, we need to win the opening game big time. 

[ATLANTISMAN]

5 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Bad news for England, we need to win the opening game big time. 

Potential banana skin BIG TIME:(

 

Its going to be a heck of a match.

 

Paul

[Irish Saint]

1 hour ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

There is some serious Samoan talent. I wonder whether they might have a different coach by then, in which case it could be a very dangerous game for England.

I watched Andrew Johns on you tube last year saying he would willingly coach them as he believed they have the talent to win the cup.

[ATLANTISMAN]

1 hour ago, Irish Saint said:

I watched Andrew Johns on you tube last year saying he would willingly coach them as he believed they have the talent to win the cup.

I think he is right take your pick from Samoa/Tonga/New Zealand/Australia sadly (I hope not) i see us as No 5 

 

Paul

[Waynebennettswinger]

1 hour ago, Irish Saint said:

I watched Andrew Johns on you tube last year saying he would willingly coach them as he believed they have the talent to win the cup.

Yeah I am sure there was something going around involving the Johns Brothers and Sonny Bill Williams. I am no fan of the current Samoa coach but they were effectively touting for a job he was still employed in! Seemed a bit wrong to me, lacking class.

[Damien]

1 hour ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

I think he is right take your pick from Samoa/Tonga/New Zealand/Australia sadly (I hope not) i see us as No 5 

 

Paul

Samoa's past record certainly does not warrant them being above England. They usually flatter to deceive and can often be quite shambolic.

[ATLANTISMAN]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Samoa's past record certainly does not warrant them being above England. They usually flatter to deceive and can often be quite shambolic.

I agree however with the players they have now they are certainly NOT NZB

 

Paul

[The Rocket]

2 hours ago, Waynebennettswinger said:

Yeah I am sure there was something going around involving the Johns Brothers and Sonny Bill Williams. I am no fan of the current Samoa coach but they were effectively touting for a job he was still employed in! Seemed a bit wrong to me, lacking class.

I don`t know what`s going on with Johns, firstly he pulls that stunt with Samoa and recently he was publicly ( and persistently ) undermining West/Tigers trying to get Luke Brooks to break his contract with the Tigers and join Newcastle.

The bloke is a complete idiot and his brother is just as stupid. Get a load of this piece of muddle-headed thinking.

NRL news 2021: Matty Johns’ left-field idea for 18th NRL team, NRL expansion, Dolphins (foxsports.com.au)

 And Andrew calls him the smart one. God ###### help us.

[UTK]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

Samoa's past record certainly does not warrant them being above England. They usually flatter to deceive and can often be quite shambolic.

Samoa 2022 will be unlike any side they've had in the past though.

Similar to Tonga in 2017, Samoa will for the first time likely have multiple Australian/NZ first choices opting to rep Samoa with another 3-4 current Origin reps filling out the side as well.

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

Bad news for England, we need to win the opening game big time. 

Loser of the opening match is basically nailed on to meet Tonga in a quarter-final, winner likely PNG. Tough outcome either way but I think both teams would love to save a showdown with Tonga for later in the tournament.

 

[Damien]

10 hours ago, UTK said:

Samoa 2022 will be unlike any side they've had in the past though.

Similar to Tonga in 2017, Samoa will for the first time likely have multiple Australian/NZ first choices opting to rep Samoa with another 3-4 current Origin reps filling out the side as well.

Loser of the opening match is basically nailed on to meet Tonga in a quarter-final, winner likely PNG. Tough outcome either way but I think both teams would love to save a showdown with Tonga for later in the tournament.

Heard it all before. I've yet to see a Samoan team that doesn't look woefully out of shape come an end of season tournament and they never play as a team. The coaching staff that allow that to happen are still in place, as are several players with very poor attitudes. 

[GeordieSaint]

15 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

I think he is right take your pick from Samoa/Tonga/New Zealand/Australia sadly (I hope not) i see us as No 5 

I wouldn’t underestimate us. We’ve got some very good young players coming through who’ll have benefited from an extra season in SL/NRL. We’ve a decent set of experienced players to back them up as well. I think we’ll do better than you expect.

[UTK]

50 minutes ago, Damien said:

Heard it all before. I've yet to see a Samoan team that doesn't look woefully out of shape come an end of season tournament and they never play as a team. The coaching staff that allow that to happen are still in place, as are several players with very poor attitudes. 

Coaching setup concerns are valid and I can understand why you think you've heard it all given the hype that inevitably follows the Islands each tournament. If we take an objective view of player calibre though this really is an unprecedented crop.

2014 4N: Samoa came within 6 points of England and 2 points of eventual winners NZ, the side had 1 current Origin player (Josh McGuire) and 3-4 players who predominantly played reserve grade each game.

2017 RLWC: 2-4 current reserve graders in matchday + Josh Papali'i as the only Origin player (didn't make the Kangaroos squad).

2019 Oceanic Cup: Martin Taupau becomes the first to officially withdraw from a tier 1 squad (NZ) and declare for Samoa instead, 0 current Origin players, 2-3 current reserve graders.

2022 RLWC: Papali'i, Paulo, To'o - All likely to be selected in the Australian squad if it was picked tomorrow and have indicated their allegiance lies with Samoa. Luai, Su'a, Tabuai-Fidow - Current Origin players with potential Samoan allegiance (Tabuai-Fidow uncapped). Crichton, Schuster, Leota - extended origin squad members. Depth to easily form 2 starting 13s from current first graders and then some.

[JonM]

On 15/12/2021 at 08:59, GeordieSaint said:

I wouldn’t underestimate us. We’ve got some very good young players coming through who’ll have benefited from an extra season in SL/NRL. We’ve a decent set of experienced players to back them up as well. I think we’ll do better than you expect.

Not forgetting that it'll be in Newcastle, in October, with hopefully 50 000 people making some noise. We're a different proposition under those conditions.

[Dave T]

On 15/12/2021 at 07:16, Damien said:

Heard it all before. I've yet to see a Samoan team that doesn't look woefully out of shape come an end of season tournament and they never play as a team. The coaching staff that allow that to happen are still in place, as are several players with very poor attitudes. 

Yep - they are also playing in Newcastle, Doncaster and Warrington - which is very different from Sydney in June. 

I am very excited to see what they can do, but England will be clear favourites.

[Damien]

23 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Yep - they are also playing in Newcastle, Doncaster and Warrington - which is very different from Sydney in June. 

I am very excited to see what they can do, but England will be clear favourites.

Exactly. I think people are all too quick to put down England's chances and to forget about the advantages of playing at home. Bar Australia, who are annoyingly consistent, the other nations haven't always travelled too well. The Samoan team seem to dine out at McDonalds and KFC 3 times a day when they are away from home.

I even hear people make out PNG are a better team than England on the back of a calamitous GB tour. In reality I think there is a 40 point swing between GB or England playing in the heat and humidity of Port Moresby and winter in the UK.

[Sports Prophet]

At the risk of drawing mass reprisal, it would appear, had the 2021 RLWC gone ahead and in hindsight, only shear luck would have saved the tournament from being incomplete. Omicron could very easily have invaded the UK a month earlier and as we can see, the outcome is mass cancellation of major sporting fixtures. So with that firmly in mind…

Is the NRL’s and NZRL’s decision not to take part in 2021 now justified?

[HawkMan]

40 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

At the risk of drawing mass reprisal, it would appear, had the 2021 RLWC gone ahead and in hindsight, only shear luck would have saved the tournament from being incomplete. Omicron could very easily have invaded the UK a month earlier and as we can see, the outcome is mass cancellation of major sporting fixtures. So with that firmly in mind…

Is the NRL’s and NZRL’s decision not to take part in 2021 now justified?

No, the yawnion teams came to covid infested U.K. and France and the games got played. Their rationale was, some in the U.K. are still getting covid so hey we may get it, and we need rest before the all important pre season games,  oh and we don't run the RLWC so no thanks. Perhaps Covid will all be gone by October 2022, see you then.

Unless the NRL hire clairvoyants who knew Omicron was coming,  and then of course didn't tell anyone. 

Edited December 25, 2021 by HawkMan

[Sports Prophet]

6 hours ago, HawkMan said:

No, the yawnion teams came to covid infested U.K. and France and the games got played.  

Ahhhh, the age old argument, “he’s doing it, why aren’t you?”. Just because your arch enemy is doing something stupid, doesn’t mean you should copy them.

6 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Perhaps Covid will all be gone by October 2022, see you then.

There is a long way to go before October 2022. My fingers are crossed that the world is in better shape by then.

 

6 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Unless the NRL hire clairvoyants who knew Omicron was coming,  and then of course didn't tell anyone. 

So had the NRL and NZRL been told in August that “around the time the 2021 RLWC will be taking place, there will be widespread outbreak of a new variant that is more transmissible than the Delta strain that is less susceptible to vaccination which will result in UK infection rates climb to unseen levels” then the NRL and NZRL would have been justified in pulling out of the tournament?

Edited December 25, 2021 by Sports Prophet

[Wellsy4HullFC]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

Ahhhh, the age old argument, “he’s doing it, why aren’t you?”. Just because your arch enemy is doing something stupid, doesn’t mean you should copy them.

Weren't many other sports still taking part in international fixtures, too?

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Weren't many other sports still taking part in international fixtures, too?

Yeah there were, all in varying levels of restrictions. Doesn’t make it right though. Doesn’t make it wrong either. I’m just posing the question.

[JohnM]

""So had the NRL and NZRL been told in August that “around the time the 2021 RLWC will be taking place, there will be widespread outbreak of a new variant...."

They'd have been lied to, as that is not what happened.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

7 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Yeah there were, all in varying levels of restrictions. Doesn’t make it right though. Doesn’t make it wrong either. I’m just posing the question.

Yes, but it does negate your "enemy is doing it, so you're copying them" argument.