Sat 19 Nov: Men's World Cup Final: Australia v Samoa KO 4pm

[Mojo]

4 minutes ago, Niels said:

He comes across as a very kind person also.

I like it when he waves to his kids at the end of the interviews. He also does a rocking baby celebration when he scores sometimes. 

 

 

That rocking baby celebration is from the nba. It means "this is too easy" if all the haters knew that they would've went off at him it's also where he got the "daddy" banter from too lol

[StandOffHalf]

On 16/11/2022 at 12:05, Mojo said:

How is Luai's MotM award speech classless? I don't remember him saying anything disrespectful at all. Now your just being petty and just hating on Luai so bad.

I also thought he came across well. I don't get what that poster was getting at.

[George Watt]

On 17/11/2022 at 01:29, Tex Evans Thigh said:

It's islanders in general, all through the World Cup they've been whinging and moaning in defeat or completely classless and childish in victory. Really poor. The best one I saw was PNG fans claiming refs were racist when they lost to...Tonga. 

Luai is the most dislikable Rugby League player I have ever seen.

Watched Luai coming through the grades at Penrith since he teamed up with Cleary in the halves when they were around 15/16 years old. Also met and talked to him a few times and found him to be a very polite and considerate young man.

For me nothing at all to dislike.

[redjonn]

8 hours ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

Isn’t the answer for us to have a World Cup that reflects where we are, rather than where we would like the world to think we are? There are 2 key criteria to credibility to my mind: a credible system within a country producing players or a very strong heritage culture (probably not the best way of writing that). Beyond that, there is the question of competitiveness.

On that basis, if I was in charge I would put on an 8 team World Cup alongside an 8 team emerging nations cup. We could have had Oz, Samoa, Fiji, PNG in group 1 and England, NZ, Tonga, France in group 2. Which would produce wall to wall high quality games, between teams with real connections to the countries they are representing. That’s a World Cup that someone with commercial acumen could really sell. Anyone who really knows the game would go out of their way to watch those teams, rather than watching Italy’s Aussies play out of a sense of bemused “loyalty”. Marketed right, that would generate more sponsorship and make more money than the current set up. Which would benefit the likes of Wales, who would get far more development money from IRL. 

The reality we are trying to be too many things to too many people and failing on pretty much every front. Walk overs are not entertaining. Artificial teams lack credibility. We have genuine teams capable of putting on thrilling games, such as we saw the last 2 week ends when those teams played each other.

Yep, I agree and have been thinking of saying similar. I was reluctant to say on here so thanks for saying.

[Futtocks]

 

[George Watt]

Wearing my Aus citizenship hat I want them to win but would not be too disappointed if Samoa managed a win.

Today's venue brings back a couple of lovely memories with the first going back to 1952 when as a 13 year old I was taken to a soccer 2nd round FA cup match when Man U played my team Hull City. In a major shock City won 2-0 and it remains the only occasion that Hull City has ever had an away victory against Man U.

The second time involved the second Ashes RL match in 1990 when like scores of thousands of GB supporters with only a couple of minutes to go and Aus near their own line an Ashes 2-0 lead looked certain until Ricky Stuart broke free and after a long run gave it to Meninga who went over for the winning try. Aus won the 3rd game and the Ashes drought continued.

To those going to the match have a great day and I hope a special match ensues.

[Mojo]

[Mojo]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

 

He has 348mil followers. So that's more exposure for the game

[frank]

On 17/11/2022 at 00:58, Madrileño said:

My comment was not really aimed at posters on this thread. It was more aimed at the types who are dismissive of the NRL and the work it has done to get nations like Samoa/Fiji/Tonga up to the level they are now at. You know the ones.... they are the sort who complain about French clubs in Super League, and want another team from some small depressing English Town instead. (Actually the sort who probably complain about everything French, or German, or Spanish!)

As I said,  there will still be loads of English fans at the final and that is great, they will mostly support Samoa and hopefully create a fantastic atmosphere. I just think it will be better without the type of supporter I mentioned above.

I used to support the England League team in competitions, but the support base used to be different IMO. Nowadays (as a European) I find a lot of them to be very blinkered in their attitudes towards other nations.  A Samoa win IMO would do a lot for the global game of rugby league. An English win would have told them that their Super league model is working well, when in fact it is not. 

Anyway, this is solo my opinion. Let's enjoy a celebration of the cosmopolitan world of rugby league this weekend. 

The Aussies never did a thing to encourage the Island nations  improve their National  teams, they did it to improve their comp and  for no other reason. At least    90%  of Islanders and Maoris playing in the NRL   were filched out of the NZ  comps and the NZRL never received a cent for them. On top of that they have treated the NZRL with disdain for years and kept them poor. This has had an adverse effect on the Game in NZ and will continue.

In regard to depressing places in the UK, a great place to get  depressed is to visit the Outback. or maybe a visit to Redfern or La Peruse.

Looking forward to some great games this weekend.

[Mojo]

56 minutes ago, frank said:

The Aussies never did a thing to encourage the Island nations  improve their National  teams, they did it to improve their comp and  for no other reason. At least    90%  of Islanders and Maoris playing in the NRL   were filched out of the NZ  comps and the NZRL never received a cent for them. On top of that they have treated the NZRL with disdain for years and kept them poor. This has had an adverse effect on the Game in NZ and will continue.

In regard to depressing places in the UK, a great place to get  depressed is to visit the Outback. or maybe a visit to Redfern or La Peruse.

Looking forward to some great games this weekend.

I disagree on the 90% of islanders are from nz. Most of them were born in Australia from island parents who moved over from nz. The island population in Australia has gone up alot from the last 5 years and it'll continue to grow

[Farmduck]

1 hour ago, frank said:

The Aussies never did a thing to encourage the Island nations  improve their National  teams, they did it to improve their comp and  for no other reason. At least    90%  of Islanders and Maoris playing in the NRL   were filched out of the NZ  comps and the NZRL never received a cent for them. On top of that they have treated the NZRL with disdain for years and kept them poor. This has had an adverse effect on the Game in NZ and will continue.

In regard to depressing places in the UK, a great place to get  depressed is to visit the Outback. or maybe a visit to Redfern or La Peruse.

Looking forward to some great games this weekend.

Really? 90%

[Iceberg Slim]

2 hours ago, frank said:

The Aussies never did a thing to encourage the Island nations  improve their National  teams, they did it to improve their comp and  for no other reason. At least    90%  of Islanders and Maoris playing in the NRL   were filched out of the NZ  comps and the NZRL never received a cent for them. On top of that they have treated the NZRL with disdain for years and kept them poor. This has had an adverse effect on the Game in NZ and will continue.

In regard to depressing places in the UK, a great place to get  depressed is to visit the Outback. or maybe a visit to Redfern or La Peruse.

Looking forward to some great games this weekend.

This exactly. The NZRL are broke. We rely on test matches against aussie for income. Gotta a ton of nrl scouts in nz that go to nzrl events and nzru. There are no pathways for the amount of juniors we produce that most kids will move to aus at the age of 12 get put into an nrl clubs elite pathways get to first grade and then are eligible for origin to serve the nrls purposes as the pinnacle of rugby league and become ineligible to play for nz all because we have only one nrl club that 80% pick the wrong talent to develop. This isn’t going to stop they will continue to scout and recruit and turn that product and claim it as their own Australian it’s been happening for years 

[frank]

2 hours ago, Mojo said:

I disagree on the 90% of islanders are from nz. Most of them were born in Australia from island parents who moved over from nz. The island population in Australia has gone up alot from the last 5 years and it'll continue to grow

How come you like my earlier post and  then disagree above?

[Mojo]

46 minutes ago, frank said:

How come you like my earlier post and  then disagree above?

I agreed with the start of the post about the aussies having nothing to do with the island nations development but more for the club. That's percent true. But the 90% islanders from nz comment I didn't agree with.

[Mojo]

The big problem for nz is their one Nrl club the Warriors picks talent from aussie over local nz talent which is crazy to me. Because most of the local talent that don't get picked up by the warriors ends up starring in the nrl for the other clubs.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Just pointing out if your intersted in RLWC merchandise that the predicted fire sale has begun

https://shop.rlwc2021.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD2ztE3YCV4wgLJfqDlsU2Ig_QjgJ6oIZ-XFJhV6UJ24VxmvPuwF2BgaAmqxEALw_wcB

Personally I will be heading to where the unofficial badge sellers normally base themselves normally on the other side of the bridge at Matt Busby way IIRC.

I do not understand the mentality of those not coming because England are not in the final. You will be seeing the two best Rugby League sides in the competition and anyone who thinks Samoa will be a walkover is misguided in the extreme with the Crichton try from the Lua offload last Saturday, Islander footy at its best. They can ruffle the aussies provided they do not spot them a big lead in the first 20 minutes.

I was at the World Cup final in 2000 and 2013 and given my advancing years would want to be at this one, a**e of a journey or not, because how many other Home World Cup finals will I ever be able to see.

If you are a Rugby League fan miss this event and you will live to regret it.

 

[Toby Chopra]

2 hours ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Just pointing out if your intersted in RLWC merchandise that the predicted fire sale has begun

https://shop.rlwc2021.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD2ztE3YCV4wgLJfqDlsU2Ig_QjgJ6oIZ-XFJhV6UJ24VxmvPuwF2BgaAmqxEALw_wcB

Personally I will be heading to where the unofficial badge sellers normally base themselves normally on the other side of the bridge at Matt Busby way IIRC.

I do not understand the mentality of those not coming because England are not in the final. You will be seeing the two best Rugby League sides in the competition and anyone who thinks Samoa will be a walkover is misguided in the extreme with the Crichton try from the Lua offload last Saturday, Islander footy at its best. They can ruffle the aussies provided they do not spot them a big lead in the first 20 minutes.

I was at the World Cup final in 2000 and 2013 and given my advancing years would want to be at this one, a**e of a journey or not, because how many other Home World Cup finals will I ever be able to see.

If you are a Rugby League fan miss this event and you will live to regret it.

 

In my case it's simply because I've done two 12 hour round trips to the north east from Sussex this tournament plus a trip to London. I'm just knackered, and a could do with saving the train fares. 

I will however be watching every minute of both finals on TV and am really looking forward to them. Samoa have a good chance IMO, with 8(?) NRL grand finalists in their team. 

Plus two Mancunian friends-of-friends who aren't RL regulars now get to go. Maybe they'll get hooked?

I agree I may regret this decision come Saturday night! 

[corvusxiii]

9 hours ago, George Watt said:

Wearing my Aus citizenship hat I want them to win but would not be too disappointed if Samoa managed a win.

Today's venue brings back a couple of lovely memories with the first going back to 1952 when as a 13 year old I was taken to a soccer 2nd round FA cup match when Man U played my team Hull City. In a major shock City won 2-0 and it remains the only occasion that Hull City has ever had an away victory against Man U.

The second time involved the second Ashes RL match in 1990 when like scores of thousands of GB supporters with only a couple of minutes to go and Aus near their own line an Ashes 2-0 lead looked certain until Ricky Stuart broke free and after a long run gave it to Meninga who went over for the winning try. Aus won the 3rd game and the Ashes drought continued.

To those going to the match have a great day and I hope a special match ensues.

I was there and as Scofield? hoofed it downfield I actually said something along the lines of 'Well, that's that!'.  Still think Meninga obstructed........

[Mojo]

I won't be surprised if the game tomorrow will come down to golden point. And if you look at the team list for both teams, it's not really that one sided. This Samoan team even with all the injuries are a better team than the Tongan that beat the kangaroos in 2017.

The forwards battle

It's pretty even to me. Australia have the fitness and the Samoans have the power. The Samoan bench will  be forwards heavy too so they'll be doing alot of rotation to keep the forwards fresh and hold the fit aussie forwards down.

The Backs

Again this one's a close. But I'll give the edge to Australia. But it's not by alot. The matchups in the backs is crazy. Tedesco is up against one of the most talented 19year olds in rugby league history at fullback.

Mitchell-JAC vs Critchon-To'o

This battle will be crucial defensively and offensively. The Panthers pairings combination, has been hard to stop in the nrl and they'll have to be at the top of there game again against Australia.

The Australian pairing are all class and they hardly have bad games. But they also haven't been tested defensively all world cup. If they lose concentration for one bit I see the panthers duo making them pay.

The halves battle

Munster-Cleary vs Luai-Milford

Australia wins this battle easy. But Maniga has been changing the halves back and forth all world cup and it's also the reason why the Aussies haven't clicked yet. If they click the aussies will win this match easily of they don't, Luai will make them pay. The Samoans haven't changed there line up since game 2 and that might be in Samoa's favour. But the aussies wins the halves battle easily if they click.

Can't wait for this game and if Samoa wins, watch the outcry over Origin go into full mode

 

[north yorks trinity]

9 hours ago, George Watt said:

The second time involved the second Ashes RL match in 1990 when like scores of thousands of GB supporters with only a couple of minutes to go and Aus near their own line an Ashes 2-0 lead looked certain until Ricky Stuart broke free and after a long run gave it to Meninga who went over for the winning try. Aus won the 3rd game and the Ashes drought continued.

Thank you for reminding me of possibly my most painful RL memory!!

It was actually 10-10 before the last try and I can't remember how the ashes would have been decided if the series had ended up 1-1 plus the draw. That really should have been the case as Meninga's change of line to remove Carl Gibson from the equation immediately prior to the try should have been penalised. 

I don't hold a grudge*, I'm just saying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Alert: Big fat lie!

[Davo5]

Just heard that a friend & former Wath Brow Hornets teammate is carrying out the WC trophy before the game alongside Clive Sullivan’s son who will carry the match ball.

Gary McKee is running 365 marathons in 365 days to raise money for McMillan & hospice at home cancer care,he’s currently on day 322.

www.JustGiving.com/threesixfive 

 

[Live after death]

38 minutes ago, north yorks trinity said:

Thank you for reminding me of possibly my most painful RL memory!!

It was actually 10-10 before the last try and I can't remember how the ashes would have been decided if the series had ended up 1-1 plus the draw. That really should have been the case as Meninga's change of line to remove Carl Gibson from the equation immediately prior to the try should have been penalised. 

I don't hold a grudge*, I'm just saying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Alert: Big fat lie!

If series drawn hone nation wins. Eastwood mussed a fairly routine kick which would have been 16-14. Meninga defo obstructed Gibson. 

[corvusxiii]

1 hour ago, north yorks trinity said:

Thank you for reminding me of possibly my most painful RL memory!!

It was actually 10-10 before the last try and I can't remember how the ashes would have been decided if the series had ended up 1-1 plus the draw. That really should have been the case as Meninga's change of line to remove Carl Gibson from the equation immediately prior to the try should have been penalised. 

I don't hold a grudge*, I'm just saying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Alert: Big fat lie!

I'm the same. I haven't mentioned this incident for...... ooh.......several hours now.

[iangidds]

https://fb.watch/gTh8yhLMhM/

[Dunbar]

3 hours ago, Mojo said:

I won't be surprised if the game tomorrow will come down to golden point. And if you look at the team list for both teams, it's not really that one sided. This Samoan team even with all the injuries are a better team than the Tongan that beat the kangaroos in 2017.

The forwards battle

It's pretty even to me. Australia have the fitness and the Samoans have the power. The Samoan bench will  be forwards heavy too so they'll be doing alot of rotation to keep the forwards fresh and hold the fit aussie forwards down.

The Backs

Again this one's a close. But I'll give the edge to Australia. But it's not by alot. The matchups in the backs is crazy. Tedesco is up against one of the most talented 19year olds in rugby league history at fullback.

Mitchell-JAC vs Critchon-To'o

This battle will be crucial defensively and offensively. The Panthers pairings combination, has been hard to stop in the nrl and they'll have to be at the top of there game again against Australia.

The Australian pairing are all class and they hardly have bad games. But they also haven't been tested defensively all world cup. If they lose concentration for one bit I see the panthers duo making them pay.

The halves battle

Munster-Cleary vs Luai-Milford

Australia wins this battle easy. But Maniga has been changing the halves back and forth all world cup and it's also the reason why the Aussies haven't clicked yet. If they click the aussies will win this match easily of they don't, Luai will make them pay. The Samoans haven't changed there line up since game 2 and that might be in Samoa's favour. But the aussies wins the halves battle easily if they click.

Can't wait for this game and if Samoa wins, watch the outcry over Origin go into full mode

 

I've seen English fans trying to convince ourselves time and again that we are as good as or better than Australia and listing all the reasons why it could be close or a win.

Australia are better and they will win but I hope it is a good game for a great end to the tournament and the Samoan fans.