The World Cup

[Barley Mow]

36 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I disagree. Because than we'll be back to aussie putting 50pts on everyone again. The international game is growing because of the rules being bend to make more teams competitive. The rule now which locks a player to one nation for a year is pretty good. To stop players changing teams throughout the whole year

I can see the down side of it, but just feel that playing for a country (and selecting which country if you qualify for multiple) should be a real commitment and not one that players are able to swap and change.

I'd hope that we are at a stage now where we have enough players who qualify for various nations, would select different countries and not impact the strength of competition too much.

[StandOffHalf]

Not a fan of them overlooking the eligibility requirements for Niukore. He played for NZ this year knowing that he'd played for the Kukis in qualifying.

[HawkMan]

Just found out that the T20 cricket WC is upcoming.  So we have three World Cups this autumn,  though one of them is likely to be a snorefest. Clue : it ain't the RLWC or the cricket.

[UTK]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2022-hudson-young-kangaroos-squad-australia-trainon-squad-mal-meninga-world-cup-canberra-raiders/news-story/7742cb149fc0f6bfcfddb1266638306d

Article doesn't add much in terms of describing the Kangaroos extended squad but good to see the comments from Hudson Young here:

"I still see Australia as the pinnacle over Origin, to play and represent your country is the greatest honour ever."

“Obviously to play for the Blues is a massive achievement but I still see it as the trial to play for Australia. I just think representing your country is the greatest thing you could ever do for your family and yourself.”

Latrell Mitchell has echoed the same sentiments in the past, good to see that players views don't correlate with the standing that the media affords the two representative levels. 

[SydneyRoosters]

Payne Haas withdraws from the World Cup “It was Pretty hard to pull out of the World Cup. I felt like I had to be there for family and look after myself” Big loss for Australia, Personally I can’t see them beating nz to the final.

[Mojo]

2 minutes ago, SydneyRoosters said:

Payne Haas withdraws from the World Cup “It was Pretty hard to pull out of the World Cup. I felt like I had to be there for family and look after myself” Big loss for Australia, Personally I can’t see them beating nz to the final.

Haas is a big loss for Australia but Australia is still strong imo. As long as they have a strong spine Australia are still the favourites over the Kiwis. But they're definitely not invincible like they we're in the past. This world cup is going to be the most competitive ever. And I'm hoping the Kiwis beats them

[Mojo]

Bateman looks like he'll only miss the samoan game after using the loophole. I honestly don't see them beating Samoa in that first game now. Bateman and Walmsley out will definitely give samoa a massive advantage in the forwards.

[Mojo]

13 hours ago, UTK said:

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2022-hudson-young-kangaroos-squad-australia-trainon-squad-mal-meninga-world-cup-canberra-raiders/news-story/7742cb149fc0f6bfcfddb1266638306d

Article doesn't add much in terms of describing the Kangaroos extended squad but good to see the comments from Hudson Young here:

"I still see Australia as the pinnacle over Origin, to play and represent your country is the greatest honour ever."

“Obviously to play for the Blues is a massive achievement but I still see it as the trial to play for Australia. I just think representing your country is the greatest thing you could ever do for your family and yourself.”

Latrell Mitchell has echoed the same sentiments in the past, good to see that players views don't correlate with the standing that the media affords the two representative levels. 

And that's how it should be. The aussie media always tries to avoid anything to uplift the international game. I remember the mid season test and not once did they say anything about it on nrl 360 or the matty johns show, and the nrl wasn't even on that weekend! And that's the only reason I want anyone but the aussies to win the world cup.

[UTK]

13 minutes ago, SydneyRoosters said:

Payne Haas withdraws from the World Cup “It was Pretty hard to pull out of the World Cup. I felt like I had to be there for family and look after myself” Big loss for Australia, Personally I can’t see them beating nz to the final.

Leaves us with a pretty dire set of props, understandable given his family circumstances but disappointing nonetheless.

[UTK]

4 minutes ago, Mojo said:

And that's how it should be. The aussie media always tries to avoid anything to uplift the international game. I remember the mid season test and not once did they say anything about it on nrl 360 or the matty johns show, and the nrl wasn't even on that weekend! And that's the only reason I want anyone but the aussies to win the world cup.

Agreed, I'm Australian and I think the best result would be us not even making the final - I suspect there's a large portion of Australians who are keen followers of the game that hold the same view.

[UTK]

Joseph Sua'ali'i has officially turned down the Kangaroos to represent Samoa at the WC.

[Mojo]

4 minutes ago, UTK said:

Joseph Sua'ali'i has officially turned down the Kangaroos to represent Samoa at the WC.

I knew it lol I said it from the start

[Mojo]

2 hours ago, SydneyRoosters said:

Payne Haas withdraws from the World Cup “It was Pretty hard to pull out of the World Cup. I felt like I had to be there for family and look after myself” Big loss for Australia, Personally I can’t see them beating nz to the final.

Suali'i playing for Samoa was pretty obvious from the start. Especially when they kept asking him and he said he doesn't know it yet. Samoa are definitely better than england now

[UTK]

3 minutes ago, Mojo said:

Suali'i playing for Samoa was pretty obvious from the start. Especially when they kept asking him and he said he doesn't know it yet. Samoa are definitely better than england now

Definitely is certainly a stretch too far but the back 5 are a massive strength for them.

Milford has shown for his entire career that he isn't any sort of a halfback and they're still lacking an even semi-decent hooking option, outside of Paulo and Papali'i the pack is filled with decent but far from spectacular players. Plenty of work to do to win that first game but if they do it'll be built off the back 5.

[Mojo]

4 minutes ago, UTK said:

Definitely is certainly a stretch too far but the back 5 are a massive strength for them.

Milford has shown for his entire career that he isn't any sort of a halfback and they're still lacking an even semi-decent hooking option, outside of Paulo and Papali'i the pack is filled with decent but far from spectacular players. Plenty of work to do to win that first game but if they do it'll be built off the back 5.

I do agree with Milford. But he has always played we'll with samoa. Any halves playing for the knights would've struggled to play well at all. Even tho I thought Milford wasn't too bad this season. Milford next to Luai and the Panthers backline and you add in origin players like Junior Paulo and Josh Papali'i I think he'll be fine. Danny levi is a solid hooker too.

Samoan Line up so far

1 Joseph Suaali'i

2 Tylan May

3 Izack Tago

4 Stephen Crichton

5 Brian To'o

6 Jarome Luai

7 Anthony Milford

8 Junior Paulo

9 Danny Levi

10 Josh Aloiai

11 Luciano Leilua

12 Jayd'n Sua

13 Raymond Faitala-Mariner

14 Chanel Harris-Tevita

15 Spencer Leniu

16 Martin Taupau

17 Josh Papali'i

[Mojo]

16 minutes ago, UTK said:

Definitely is certainly a stretch too far but the back 5 are a massive strength for them.

Milford has shown for his entire career that he isn't any sort of a halfback and they're still lacking an even semi-decent hooking option, outside of Paulo and Papali'i the pack is filled with decent but far from spectacular players. Plenty of work to do to win that first game but if they do it'll be built off the back 5.

I'm pretty sure the far from spectacular samoan forwards can handle the English pack. I mean the English pack will probably have Luke Thompson who I like as a player but was "far from spectacular" this season and Elliott Whitehead who also wasn't at his best at times this season. Radley is probably the only one who stands out in that forward pack. So I'm definitely giving samoa the edge in that first game

[UTK]

2 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I'm pretty sure the far from spectacular samoan forwards can handle the English pack. I mean the English pack will probably have Luke Thompson who I like as a player but was "far from spectacular" this season and Elliott Whitehead who also wasn't at his best at times this season. Radley is probably the only one who stands out in that forward pack. So I'm definitely giving samoa the edge in that first game

I had pretty much the same lineup in mind as you though I'd definitely put Royce Hunt in with a shot at the side and maybe have RFM off the bench as opposed to lock. 

As for the pack Taupau has been a wonderful player but is barely a first-grader now, I understand why he's there as he's a key part of the Samoan setup but still. Aloiai is bang average, Leniu can't play more than 15 minute stints because he has no engine, Papali'i has had a late season resurgence alongside Tapine but isn't the player he once was, the backrowers are all definitely decent first-graders but again nothing that will scare other teams. 

Whitehead is no guarantee to be in the English side, Thompson probably will after Walmsley was ruled out. The pack edge is with England but the back 5 with Samoa, spine could go anywhere based on who England pick.

[Mojo]

12 minutes ago, UTK said:

I had pretty much the same lineup in mind as you though I'd definitely put Royce Hunt in with a shot at the side and maybe have RFM off the bench as opposed to lock. 

As for the pack Taupau has been a wonderful player but is barely a first-grader now, I understand why he's there as he's a key part of the Samoan setup but still. Aloiai is bang average, Leniu can't play more than 15 minute stints because he has no engine, Papali'i has had a late season resurgence alongside Tapine but isn't the player he once was, the backrowers are all definitely decent first-graders but again nothing that will scare other teams. 

Whitehead is no guarantee to be in the English side, Thompson probably will after Walmsley was ruled out. The pack edge is with England but the back 5 with Samoa, spine could go anywhere based on who England pick.

Your right about Leniu playing 15 minutes and that's why he's a impact player off the bench. Papali'i you can tell was basically waiting for the playoffs to come lol but his experience is more valuable in the samoan team. Taupau is solid against England but I wouldn't trust him if we we're playing tonga, aus or nz. Aloiai for me was the best prop for manly by far. Royce Hunt is also another strong prop too. Samoa is just lacking a good solid 13 and I would probably put Taupau there due to his experience playing 13 in the past.

[StandOffHalf]

I wouldn't be surprised if Levi is out of the tournament. His injury seemed pretty worrying. I hope for the best, because Samoan hooking options are otherwise a bit thin.

I haven't heard whether the Hammer is going with Australia or Samoa. If the latter, I'd put one of him or Crichton at FB and leave Suaalii on the wing - where's he's played well all season. His passing and decision-making were questionable when he was moved there against Souths. I think the other two lads have better passing games, at this stage.

I'd seriously consider having Lino over the Milf. I think he has been going great at Wakefield and would offer a familiarity with English conditions and players. He's an 85 to 90 % kicker as well, which is way better than Crichton or the Milf. The kicks could be important in tight games.

[Mojo]

11 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Levi is out of the tournament. His injury seemed pretty worrying. I hope for the best, because Samoan hooking options are otherwise a bit thin.

I haven't heard whether the Hammer is going with Australia or Samoa. If the latter, I'd put one of him or Crichton at FB and leave Suaalii on the wing - where's he's played well all season. His passing and decision-making were questionable when he was moved there against Souths. I think the other two lads have better passing games, at this stage.

I'd seriously consider having Lino over the Milf. I think he has been going great at Wakefield and would offer a familiarity with English conditions and players. He's an 85 to 90 % kicker as well, which is way better than Crichton or the Milf. The kicks could be important in tight games.

I'm pretty sure one of the reasons Suali'i picked samoa was for the fullback position to shoot his stock up. And he played fullback all through age grade until he got to the roosters. That souths game will be a huge learning curve for him and he'll definitely get better from that experience. If Levi is out than samoa would probably use Chanel Harris-Tevita at hooker. He's normally in the halves but having him there could add another playmaker with a solid kicking game in the starting 17. Stephen Crichton is a solid goal kicker but i won't be surprised if they use Mason Lino too because of Richard Agar being a part of the coaching staff with his SL knowledge.

[UTK]

13 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I'm pretty sure one of the reasons Suali'i picked samoa was for the fullback position to shoot his stock up. And he played fullback all through age grade until he got to the roosters. That souths game will be a huge learning curve for him and he'll definitely get better from that experience. If Levi is out than samoa would probably use Chanel Harris-Tevita at hooker. He's normally in the halves but having him there could add another playmaker with a solid kicking game in the starting 17. Stephen Crichton is a solid goal kicker but i won't be surprised if they use Mason Lino too because of Richard Agar being a part of the coaching staff with his SL knowledge.

I reckon Nu Brown would probably start at 9 if Levi is out with one of CHT/May/Tevaga on the bench to spell him.

[Mojo]

7 minutes ago, UTK said:

I reckon Nu Brown would probably start at 9 if Levi is out with one of CHT/May/Tevaga on the bench to spell him.

Nu Brown hasn't really been that great tbh and I'm sure they'll try and find a way to put Tabuai-Fidow in the bench to bring some sparks off the bench

[Mojo]

“We also have Lee Radford, the Castleford coach, who has won two Challenge Cups with Hull FC, so while we are building a strong presence on the field, we certainly have a strong off-field staff as well.”

Adding new coaching staff for the samoan team. Don't know much about SL so I don't know if that's a good addition. But it's good that they're taking england seriously by involving SL coaches in the team

[StandOffHalf]

27 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I'm pretty sure one of the reasons Suali'i picked samoa was for the fullback position to shoot his stock up. And he played fullback all through age grade until he got to the roosters. That souths game will be a huge learning curve for him and he'll definitely get better from that experience. If Levi is out than samoa would probably use Chanel Harris-Tevita at hooker. He's normally in the halves but having him there could add another playmaker with a solid kicking game in the starting 17. Stephen Crichton is a solid goal kicker but i won't be surprised if they use Mason Lino too because of Richard Agar being a part of the coaching staff with his SL knowledge.

Yeah, I don't doubt that Suaalii wants to play #1 and join the ranks of superstar #1s in the game.

Looking at all three this season, I think wing might be his best position for the moment.

But, I'm sure he'll get to play where he wants.

[StandOffHalf]

The Hammer brings X-Factor. For me, he starts if available.

My Toa Samoa backline would be:

The Hammer

Suaalii

Whiskey Tago Foxtrot

Crichton

To'o

With Luai and Lino at #6 and #7. I might have the Milf on the bench.