England vs Samoa Series

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, Mojo said:

Funnily enough i just read this in an article today. Good thing is, is that those panthers boys will definitely play against England

Strewth, how did the Big Bad NRL manage to miss an opportunity to have this series cancelled because it won’t finish in time for the Samoan players to get a full NRL pre-season in?

[Damien]

3 hours ago, Mojo said:

Funnily enough i just read this in a article today. Good thing is, is that those panthers boys will definitely play against England

I'm guessing this delay is why we have a 2 test series instead of 3.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

On which channel are the matches being broadcast?

BBC as usual for the England games.

[Barley Mow]

4 hours ago, Mojo said:

Funnily enough i just read this in a article today. Good thing is, is that those panthers boys will definitely play against England

Someone should've told Mike McMeeken this was an option last year! 

 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

4 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I was thinking what I need to do. Don’t they just automatically apply the discount if you have 10 or more in your basket?

I bought 22 tickets for Wembley 2025, the guy phoned me 15 minutes after I sent the email on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Make sure you send it to the group bookings address at RL commercial 

[RP London]

6 minutes ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

I bought 22 tickets for Wembley 2025, the guy phoned me 15 minutes after I sent the email on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Make sure you send it to the group bookings address at RL commercial 

Were they phoning to make sure you hadnt made a typo and were just looking for 2?

[JM2010]

7 minutes ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

I bought 22 tickets for Wembley 2025, the guy phoned me 15 minutes after I sent the email on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Make sure you send it to the group bookings address at RL commercial 

Thanks for the advice 

[Odsal Outlaw]

2 hours ago, JM2010 said:

Thanks for the advice 

Yeah you email RL Commercial, groups@rlcommercial.co.uk.

They then help you book 10+ with 40% discount. I emailed on 7th September. Apparently they will reply by 19th September So hopefully only a max of 3 days to go … 

[JM2010]

2 minutes ago, Odsal Outlaw said:

Yeah you email RL Commercial, groups@rlcommercial.co.uk.

They then help you book 10+ with 40% discount. I emailed on 7th September. Apparently they will reply by 19th September So hopefully only a max of 3 days to go … 

Its probably difficult for the one and only employee to answer the phone, monitor the website, reply to emails, design the kit, update social media etc

[Hopie]

8 hours ago, Mojo said:

Funnily enough i just read this in a article today. Good thing is, is that those panthers boys will definitely play against England

Honeymoon in Wigan, poor lass.

5 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Strewth, how did the Big Bad NRL manage to miss an opportunity to have this series cancelled because it won’t finish in time for the Samoan players to get a full NRL pre-season in?

In the thread where we had to wait months for the series to be confirmed because of ....

[graveyard johnny]

so- whats the likely Samoa line up gonna be - anyone want to predict a 1-17 and the club sides they play for?

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, Hopie said:

Honeymoon in Wigan, poor lass.

In the thread where we had to wait months for the series to be confirmed because of ....

Looks like it could have been confirmed yesterday and we would still be in pretty much the same place with regards to promotion and ticket sales.

I seem to remember that if it wasn’t for the influence of the Big Bad NRL, Samoa wouldn’t be touring at all.

[Sports Prophet]

7 hours ago, Dave T said:

BBC as usual for the England games.

So no promo on the BBC yet? That doesn’t surprise me.

[HawkMan]

9 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

So no promo on the BBC yet? That doesn’t surprise me.

I've seen one promo on the BBC, but at present the BBC are promoting Soccer Champions League,  this is a big deal,  first time the premium European club tournament on the channel. As an Australian I think it may be tricky realising how minor RL is in the U.K. So I've done a bit of digging and come up with Australian Lacrosse, a sport with a proud history,  starting in 1876, and played mainly in Perth Adelaide and Melbourne and is a minor sport.  That may give you an idea of RL status over here,  about the same as Lacrosse over in your patch.

[Mojo]

4 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

so- whats the likely Samoa line up gonna be - anyone want to predict a 1-17 and the club sides they play for?

This is probably the most likely squad

1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Nz Warriors)

2 Brian To'o (Penrith Panthers)

3 Stephen Critchon (Canterbury Bulldogs)

4 Izack Tago (Penrith Panthers)

5 Murray Taulagi ( Cowboys)

6 Blaize Talagi (Parramatta Eels)

7 Jarome Luai (Penrith Panthers)

8 Terrell May (Sydney Roosters)

9 Chanel Harris-Tevita (Nz Warriors)

10 Oregon Kaufusi (Cronulla Sharks)

11 Jayd'n Sua (Dragons)

12 Jeremiah Nanai (Cowboys)

13 Heilum Luki (Cowboys)

14 Erin Clark (Gold Coast Titans)

15 Spencer Leniu (Roosters)

16 Josh Papali'i (Canberra Raiders)

17 Sua Faalogo (Melbourne Storm)

[Pulga]

4 hours ago, HawkMan said:

I've seen one promo on the BBC, but at present the BBC are promoting Soccer Champions League,  this is a big deal,  first time the premium European club tournament on the channel. As an Australian I think it may be tricky realising how minor RL is in the U.K. So I've done a bit of digging and come up with Australian Lacrosse, a sport with a proud history,  starting in 1876, and played mainly in Perth Adelaide and Melbourne and is a minor sport.  That may give you an idea of RL status over here,  about the same as Lacrosse over in your patch.

That's a cop out. Lacrosse isn't broadcast anywhere in Australia. It's closer to Basketball here in Australia but less competently managed.

[graveyard johnny]

6 hours ago, Mojo said:

This is probably the most likely squad

1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Nz Warriors)

2 Brian To'o (Penrith Panthers)

3 Stephen Critchon (Canterbury Bulldogs)

4 Izack Tago (Penrith Panthers)

5 Murray Taulagi ( Cowboys)

6 Blaize Talagi (Parramatta Eels)

7 Jarome Luai (Penrith Panthers)

8 Terrell May (Sydney Roosters)

9 Chanel Harris-Tevita (Nz Warriors)

10 Oregon Kaufusi (Cronulla Sharks)

11 Jayd'n Sua (Dragons)

12 Jeremiah Nanai (Cowboys)

13 Heilum Luki (Cowboys)

14 Erin Clark (Gold Coast Titans)

15 Spencer Leniu (Roosters)

16 Josh Papali'i (Canberra Raiders)

17 Sua Faalogo (Melbourne Storm)

thats one hell of a squad if they all come

[Sports Prophet]

8 hours ago, HawkMan said:

I've seen one promo on the BBC, but at present the BBC are promoting Soccer Champions League,  this is a big deal,  first time the premium European club tournament on the channel. As an Australian I think it may be tricky realising how minor RL is in the U.K. So I've done a bit of digging and come up with Australian Lacrosse, a sport with a proud history,  starting in 1876, and played mainly in Perth Adelaide and Melbourne and is a minor sport.  That may give you an idea of RL status over here,  about the same as Lacrosse over in your patch.

I didn’t realise the beeb have Champions League rights now, that is pretty big.

The rest of your condescending post was unnecessary.

[HawkMan]

7 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

I didn’t realise the beeb have Champions League rights now, that is pretty big.

The rest of your condescending post was unnecessary.

It was not my intention to be condescending,  apologies if it came across that way. RL has a unique position over here, big in heartlands and nowhere else, Lacrosse in Oz seems similar,  I thought it was a useful comparison.

[Mojo]

2 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

thats one hell of a squad if they all come

The only ones in that line up that I'm 50/50 on is Erin Clark because he might get picked by the Kiwis, Jazz Tevaga will probably take his they're both similar players. And personally I would put Tyrone May at 6 over Talagi because of experience and he knows alot of the English boys and the style they play. I don't watch any SL but from the sounds of things he's doing alright at the moment. Sua Faalogo is that x-factor player. He could cause a few problems to England if Samoa uses him right

[Archie Gordon]

5 hours ago, Pulga said:

That's a cop out. Lacrosse isn't broadcast anywhere in Australia. It's closer to Basketball here in Australia but less competently managed.

We often overdo RL's 'UK minor sport' status. 60k+ for finals, 25k for the biggest league/cup games, relatively popular second tier comp. Men's national team capable of attracting 50k+. Solid TV figures (when last published). And so on.

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

We often overdo RL's 'UK minor sport' status. 60k+ for finals, 25k for the biggest league/cup games, relatively popular second tier comp. Men's national team capable of attracting 50k+. Solid TV figures (when last published). And so on.

I think the easiest comparison - and it's not perfect - is with soccer in Australia, although that has changed given the visibility of the Matildas.

The difficulty is for anyone outside the UK to understand that the sporting landscape here looks like: Premier League football, international football, other kinds of football, some more football, women's football, quirky European football, rugby union, this football over here, cricket, retro football, everything else ...

We're high up in the everything else though.

[StandOffHalf]

9 hours ago, Mojo said:

The only ones in that line up that I'm 50/50 on is Erin Clark because he might get picked by the Kiwis, Jazz Tevaga will probably take his they're both similar players. And personally I would put Tyrone May at 6 over Talagi because of experience and he knows alot of the English boys and the style they play. I don't watch any SL but from the sounds of things he's doing alright at the moment. Sua Faalogo is that x-factor player. He could cause a few problems to England if Samoa uses him right

For the same reason, I'd probably go with Tim Lafai at left centre. He is terrorising SL opposition with his slipped offloads to his wingman and he knows the English grounds and players.

Faalogo is a freak. If it's dry he could have a field day with his foot-work. I'd love him at FB to be honest, but RTS will be the #1. Faalogo in the 17 offers a touch of magic and a player who will make special stuff happen.

[StandOffHalf]

14 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

thats one hell of a squad if they all come

I might have Luciano Leilua over Su'A. I think he's been good for the Cows in 2024.

 

[Welshleaguelover]

Don't be surprised if there's a few pullouts from Samoa.

Think Tonga only came over with players that didn't make the finals last season.

Can see some pressure coming from the clubs.