Scenes in Apia, Samoa after win

[The Rocket]

11 minutes ago, Damien said:

Please god no. Some people may want to cling to the Lions because of history but to purposely go down that path with the PI islands is crazy. They are each competitive in their own right and building something special, they should continue on that path.

And so they can.

What I`m more interested in is what a money spinner it would be. All we ever hear about over here is Oz union pinning all their financial hopes on the 2025 (?) Lions tour., why couldn`t we have something similar once a decade or so. It would be just another very bankable product.

Edited November 14, 2022 by The Rocket
grammar

[Damien]

Just now, The Rocket said:

And so they can.

What I`m more interested in what a money spinner it would be, all we ever hear about over here is Oz union pinning all their financial hopes on the 2025 (?) Lions tour., why couldn`t we have something similar once a decade or so. It would be just another very bankable product.

No more than individual teams can do. It's pointless and a step back.

[Archie Gordon]

51 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Now a Pacific Islands " Lions " team, rampaging across Australia and New Zealand (might even visit Europe occasionally if you could put up a fight) would be a mouth-watering prospect once a decade or so.

I like idea but who's organising it and who are we setting up contracts with? It could be massive done once every 4 years.

[The Rocket]

27 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

I like idea but who's organising it and who are we setting up contracts with? It could be massive done once every 4 years.

Yeah mate it would take a fair bit of goodwill but given the shots today of Tongans wearing Samoan colours to church on Sunday it does suggest a camaraderie amongst the Island nations.

One of the things I keep reading about the British Lions union team is that to beat them is a really big deal and rarely achieved, certainly over here. A combined (an appropriate name would be crucial) Pacific Nations side could be equally invincible.

There`s no way I`m suggesting replacing the individual PI teams, but given the growing hype around PI nations, what a sight and drawcard a combined PI team could provide touring every decade or so. It`d be just another very bankable product.

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by The Rocket
Add last sentence.

[iangidds]

2 hours ago, Tosh said:

There’s something like 50k Pacific Islanders in Utah and the majority of them are Tongans mostly around Salt Lake City and its suburbs.

Pity no one will do it , we keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result 

[Archie Gordon]

19 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Yeah mate it would take a fair bit of goodwill but given the shots today of Tongans wearing Samoan colours to church on Sunday it does suggest a camaraderie amongst the Island nations.

One of the things I keep reading about the British Lions union team is that to beat them is a really big deal and rarely achieved, certainly over here. A combined (an appropriate name would be crucial) Pacific Nations side could be equally invincible.

There`s no way I`m suggesting replacing the individual PI teams, but given the growing hype around PI nations, what a sight and drawcard a combined PI team could provide touring every decade or so. It`d be just another very bankable product.

 

Yeah. I've seen plenty of Fijians cheering on Samoa on social media. I think the players and fans would take to it if it was done as an infrequent but regular thing.

[The Rocket]

2 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

Yeah. I've seen plenty of Fijians cheering on Samoa on social media. I think the players and fans would take to it if it was done as an infrequent but regular thing.

And can you imagine the hype if they had a world beating team that had the aura of union`s Lions.

I suppose come Monday they may well have a world beating team, but I still think if organised judiciously the concept could be a winner on and off the field.

 

[Archie Gordon]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

And can you imagine the hype if they had a world beating team that had the aura of union`s Lions.

I suppose come Monday they may well have a world beating team, but I still think if organised judiciously the concept could be a winner on and off the field.

 

And surely an AUS-PI series would do 80k, 52k, 80k.

[Kayakman]

3 hours ago, iangidds said:

Pity no one will do it , we keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different result 

 

There are many Islanders along both the west coasts of Canada and the US..some other pockets.  The beachhead is in Toronto and they can draw large crowds..many Islanders were at those games, that is where any expansion needs to start.

[EggFace]

On 13/11/2022 at 06:03, frank said:

Add South Auckland to that, the Samoans have been partying from the early hours  and  continued all day

Shame we did have any Pacific Island communities in the UK.

[B rad]

19 hours ago, north yorks trinity said:

Really? Not for me it doesn't. The fact that supporters of the winning team are pleased they have won is meant to make it better for the losers?

They're entitled to party and enjoy themselves. Their team earned them the right. I'm entitled to remain just as grumpy as I was yesterday!

Completely fair enough. English fans have had it very tough for probably over a decade now with "almost got there" shots at glory. I do feel terrible for you. Sooner or later you got to have a win. This English team is strong and that win can't be that far away.

There is a massive amount of silver lining for Rugby League with Samoa winning though. 

1: It is a massive deal for Samoa who has never had any team of any sport make a World Cup final

2: It firmly puts the game of Rugby League in the spotlight for Samoans if they live in Samoa, New Zealand, Australia or anywhere else in the world.

3: A lot of Samoan kids, most of heritage will look at this, and create heroes of guys like Apia born Stephen Crichton and I am sure quite a few will be having conversations with their parents about which Rugby code they want to play in come next season. 

4: It gives the game more scenes similar to when Tonga did what they did, throwing international RL into the faces of administrators and almost forcing them to take the international game more seriously.

5: It gives the game another international power that can compete and win competitions. 

6: It makes the decision of who to represent for players like Payne Haas, Jeremiah Nanai, and Tino Fa'asumaleaui much more difficult when they see the effect this team has had on their heritage nation. Take some of these players out of Australia and they become a little bit weaker while Samoa becomes a lot stronger.

It sucks that England lost for English fan's sake, but at least a lot of good came will come from it. 

[Anita Bath]

3 hours ago, EggFace said:

Shame we did have any Pacific Island communities in the UK.

We do ....Rochdale - if it was Fiji making it through to the Final the place would be buzzing (get it....Hornets).

[pahars]

8 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Yeah mate it would take a fair bit of goodwill but given the shots today of Tongans wearing Samoan colours to church on Sunday it does suggest a camaraderie amongst the Island nations.

One of the things I keep reading about the British Lions union team is that to beat them is a really big deal and rarely achieved, certainly over here. A combined (an appropriate name would be crucial) Pacific Nations side could be equally invincible.

There`s no way I`m suggesting replacing the individual PI teams, but given the growing hype around PI nations, what a sight and drawcard a combined PI team could provide touring every decade or so. It`d be just another very bankable product.

 

Union tried it for a few years. The players never bought in to it -made up combined wardances etc. and the  individual RFU’s thought their third wasn’t enough money. 

[EggFace]

17 minutes ago, Anita Bath said:

We do ....Rochdale - if it was Fiji making it through to the Final the place would be buzzing (get it....Hornets).

I never knew that.

[gingerjon]

15 hours ago, pahars said:

Union tried it for a few years. The players never bought in to it -made up combined wardances etc. and the  individual RFU’s thought their third wasn’t enough money. 

From memory, the team didn't perform as well as hoped either.

[pahars]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

From memory, the team didn't perform as well as hoped either.

Just looked it up and you’re right. They lost convincingly to all the six nations except Italy with half the crowds under 20,000 and even the sell out machines of Cardiff and Twickenham two thirds full. 

Better on their own in every way. 

 

 

[Pulga]

 

Have you ever heard of parades in Las Vegas for any other nation making the final?

Insane.

 

[MatthewWoody]

Josh Papali'i about the support from Aus, NZ and USA Samoan people: 

 

[MatthewWoody]

23 hours ago, Pulga said:

 

Have you ever heard of parades in Las Vegas for any other nation making the final?

Insane.

 

This tells us something about how people can and actually do feel themselves to belong to both their heritage homeland and their new one. 

[EggFace]

I hope some more good will come out of this for Rugby league.

[Damien]

 

 

[Damien]

There really are some tremendous scenes throughout Samoa and Samoa fever has swept the country. Social media is full of it.

[Damien]

 

 

[Just Browny]

Apparently Australia tried to get Skippy to do a similar video but even she said she was up for the underdog.

[Damien]