Best of the Rest

[Roy Haggerty]

England, Australia and NZ all seem pretty impressive. But who are the wild cards who look like more than a speed bump in the quarters and semis?

I’ve watched every game so far, and would have to say that PNG look the next best, but also - bit left field - Lebanon look at least as good, if not better, than Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, all of whom I expected to be better. 
 

Who’s your 4th and 5th?

 

[Dunbar]

16 minutes ago, Roy Haggerty said:

England, Australia and NZ all seem pretty impressive. But who are the wild cards who look like more than a speed bump in the quarters and semis?

I’ve watched every game so far, and would have to say that PNG look the next best, but also - bit left field - Lebanon look at least as good, if not better, than Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, all of whom I expected to be better. 
 

Who’s your 4th and 5th?

 

I have certainly been disappointed with Samoa, Tonga and Fiji to date.  It is certainly a cliche but their lack of quality spine players looks a real weakness. 

I thought that the Kangaroos had the easiest route to the semi's but maybe Lebanon is not the easiest route that I thought it was.  They will win of course.

Best of the rest.  Maybe it is PNG by default but I still think Tonga will have a little bit too much for them.

[GeordieSaint]

Tongans beat PNG Roy… 

… they’ll be a tough SF if they beat Samoa.

[Roy Haggerty]

1 minute ago, GeordieSaint said:

Tongans beat PNG Roy… 

… they’ll be a tough SF if they beat Samoa.

Yes, but PNG have looked solid in both games. Thought Tonga looked much patchier in their other match. 

[Guest]

Fiji now they have had a few good hit outs - shame they left a good few players at home.

[Davo5]

Still Tonga for me,especially as they get JT back.

[Mumby Magic]

France to beat Samoa. O and to answer OP. France.

[Futtocks]

Lebanon have some pretty shrewd players. While clearly outgunned on paper by a few teams, they can really be a problem if taken lightly.

[GUBRATS]

2 hours ago, GeordieSaint said:

Tongans beat PNG Roy… 

… they’ll be a tough SF if they beat Samoa.

By one score , and with some ' strange ' reffing decisions going their way 

[Guest]

Was there and PNG shelled at least 3 tries too. 

[SydneyRoosters]

PNG and France for me, most structured and look the biggest threats. Both teams have a good game plan and have shown the can beat or be competitive against the big 3.

[The Lad]

Tonga and Samoa haven't lived up to the hype so far. Outside of the big three PNG seems to be the best, it's going to be a physical encounter for England. 

[GUBRATS]

4 minutes ago, The Lad said:

Tonga and Samoa haven't lived up to the hype so far. Outside of the big three PNG seems to be the best, it's going to be a physical encounter for England. 

We can't be complacent , they beat GB last time 

[Waynebennettswinger]

PNG for me too, whilst they did have a few decisions go against them, they unfortunately bombed too many chances against Tonga as said above.

Seems funny to say when they have conceded big scores but I have also been impressed with Greece, Italy and Wales as much for really having a go at times. Been much less impressed with Scotland and Ireland in comparison. 

[Niels]

I think Tonga under Wolff are playing within themselves to peak when it matters. I just think if he can organise the defence as he does St Helens, then they may yet be dangerous. 

Or, I may be completely wrong and they could have regressed. In which case Samoa will reach the semi finals. 

I think both would play better if the tournament was in the Southern hemisphere. 

 

[Roy Haggerty]

Well, I take it all back. Tonga and Samoa today look like completely different teams to their first two games. Frighteningly aggressive and well organised. 

[arcticchris]

Tonga will be a threat to win it all.

Lebanon have had a good tournament but won’t give Australia any more than a decent hit out. 
 

Fiji look weaker than 4 years ago and this NZ team looks vastly different than last time so an upset would be an even bigger shock than before.

Samoa can trouble the Tongans but I think the more mobile Tongan pack will do the damage and get them into the last 4.

PNG have been terrific but England look too classy, motivated  and well organised to suffer a GB style humiliation.

[GUBRATS]

Definitely Tonga and Samoa now , with PNG behind them , both are getting into their strides now and just sheer power , size and pace puts them ahead of the Kumul's 

I'll be at Warrington next Sunday , should be a right battle

[JimBronco]

Tonga are going to take some stopping now I feel. They're a different beast with Taumalolo back. 

[JonM]

While I agree that Tonga looked very impressive yesterday, that has to be tempered by the way the Cooks threw in the towel relatively early on in the game. They didn't put up anywhere near the level of resistance that Greece or France did.

A lot of Tonga's tries involved straight one on one missed tackles, or in some cases a Tongan player running through two, three or four defenders without any one of them really committing to a tackle. In a lot of cases, that was because the defenders were so much smaller, and they were out on their feet. I don't expect England, Samoa or PNG to be so completely dominated physically.

[MatthewWoody]

On 30/10/2022 at 00:33, GUBRATS said:

We can't be complacent , they beat GB last time 

The worst moment in my RL watching "career"

[Young Blood]

On 30/10/2022 at 09:20, SydneyRoosters said:

PNG and France for me, most structured and look the biggest threats. Both teams have a good game plan and have shown the can beat or be competitive against the big 3.

France after they were demoralised by Samoa. 

[Young Blood]

Tonga have best talent up there with Samoa, however Lebanon may be less talented all round but have class in the playmaking roles and good finishers. 

[GUBRATS]

5 hours ago, MatthewWoody said:

The worst moment in my RL watching "career"

' King Edwin '

[GeordieSaint]

3 hours ago, Young Blood said:

Tonga have best talent up there with Samoa, however Lebanon may be less talented all round but have class in the playmaking roles and good finishers. 

Tonga with Moses would be some team.