England vs Samoa Series

[StandOffHalf]

7 minutes ago, Mojo said:

Talagi played 2 games at 5/8 this year for the eels, and I hope Samoa plays him in the position on tour next to Luai.

Yeah, that's his position. It seems an obvious choice. Luai and Talagi would be an exciting combo.

[NRLandSL]

32 minutes ago, Mojo said:

Talagi played 2 games at 5/8 this year for the eels, and I hope Samoa plays him in the position on tour next to Luai.

He is incredibly exiciting, will be replacing Luai at Penrith. Will also be partnering with Luai for Samoa. I think the sky is the limit of Taulagi, the kid is only 19 and already killing it in the NRL. Reminds me a lot of Jack Wighton.

[StandOffHalf]

46 minutes ago, Mojo said:

You say samoa's front row lacks power but then you add in Sauaso Sue lol I was a big fan of Sue but he's way past his prime now. Mago is solid, I've seen highlights of Eseese in the SL and he looks like a bully there but I think you guys are under estimating the samoa front rows. Molo ain't a bad prop he runs hard if not better then Sue. Pahulu is a young up and coming prop from the Titans and he handled the nrl we'll this year. Va'alepu is another big body in the front row. The samoan front row definitely won't get bullied but it's the combinations that will let the samoan down because 90% of this team haven't played together. I still think England will win the series comfortably but I'm very excited to see the young bucks in the samoan team have a go

I do think the Samoan props are missing experienced leaders who opposition would know, fear, and respect. The young players such as Vaalepu and Pahulu have a massive task on their hands, if I'm being honest. They don't have name or reputation this side of the world.

Edited October 9 by StandOffHalf

[StandOffHalf]

DP

Edited October 9 by StandOffHalf

[Mojo]

15 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

He is incredibly exiciting, will be replacing Luai at Penrith. Will also be partnering with Luai for Samoa. I think the sky is the limit of Taulagi, the kid is only 19 and already killing it in the NRL. Reminds me a lot of Jack Wighton.

He also reminds me a bit of Dylan Brown. He's not afraid to attack the line and he's very strong for his size. I can't wait to see how he'll go at the Panthers next year

[Mojo]

12 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I do think the Samoan props are missing experienced leaders who opposition would know, fear, and respect. The young players such as Vaalepu and Pahulu have a massive task on their hands, if I'm being honest. They don't have name or reputation this side of the world.

I agree with you, it's also why I'm glad Luai and RTS are there in the spine to help them out. RTS is a former Kiwis capt. The samoan team will also set up camp at the end of this week, so that's going to be very crucial for those guys combination. The samoan spine of RTS  Luai and Talagi will grow even more on this tour and they'll be different players in 2 years time at the world cup

[Click]

1 hour ago, NRLandSL said:

He is incredibly exiciting, will be replacing Luai at Penrith. Will also be partnering with Luai for Samoa. I think the sky is the limit of Taulagi, the kid is only 19 and already killing it in the NRL. Reminds me a lot of Jack Wighton.

Does he kick it out on the full quite a lot? 

If he reminds you of Wighton, then he probably shouldn't even be playing in either of the half back roles.

[StandOffHalf]

4 minutes ago, Click said:

Does he kick it out on the full quite a lot? 

If he reminds you of Wighton, then he probably shouldn't even be playing in either of the half back roles.

I think the similarities noted to Wighton and Brown are that he likes running the ball to take the line on and he's strong.

I have no idea how strong Talagi's kicking-game is, but that isn't the area that has impressed me. I would be playing him as a run threat, alongside Luai in a managing role.

Edited October 9 by StandOffHalf

[NRLandSL]

3 minutes ago, Click said:

Does he kick it out on the full quite a lot? 

If he reminds you of Wighton, then he probably shouldn't even be playing in either of the half back roles.

Not sure what your talking about, Jack Wighton won a dally M playing 5/8.

[Click]

1 minute ago, NRLandSL said:

Not sure what your talking about, Jack Wighton won a dally M playing 5/8.

I am saying that Jack Wighton should never be in the halves. He is not a 6 or 7. 

He kicks the ball out on the full more often than I have seen any other player do it for the last 5/6 years.

[Welshleaguelover]

13 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

I won’t argue with you about the French World Cup performance. That performance was dreadful and there whole tournament was as a whole. The French have regularly showed they can give an England a relatively close game (only losing by 4 or so tries) despite not having any stand out performances for a while.

France vs Samoa would be pretty close game and France could certainly win on a good day.

Don't be daft.

[Sports Prophet]

11 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

…

The Samoan selectors mustn't really be aware of Super League. Sauaso Sue should be locked in alongside Terrell May as a starting prop. He's gone great for KR and would give them a steeliness. Patrick Mago is the ultimate impact sub for Wigan with his leg-drive and offloads. A 15-minute stint from him could create mayhem. The third SL prop that should be there in my view is Herman Ese'ese. Playing in basement-dwellers Hull FC getting thrashed most weeks he carried hard and made a dent every time. He would have added to Samoa's forward punch when coming onto the field.

Without knowing who the selectors are, Samoa RL is a threadbare organisation and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a contemporary understanding of SL.

[StandOffHalf]

12 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Without knowing who the selectors are, Samoa RL is a threadbare organisation and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a contemporary understanding of SL.

Would or wouldn't?

It strikes me as frankly baffling to leave out Sue, who has been one of the best props in England in 2024, knows the players and the grounds, is someone who'd be a leader and an old head. Mago as well, who'd perk things up no end off the interchange bench with his surges and offloads.

The young forwards are a nod to the future, but I think you should be aiming to win in the here and now. Mago and Sue are simply WAY better options than the young props from Melbourne and the Titans.

[Sports Prophet]

18 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Would or wouldn't?

It strikes me as frankly baffling to leave out Sue, who has been one of the best props in England in 2024, knows the players and the grounds, is someone who'd be a leader and an old head. Mago as well, who'd perk things up no end off the interchange bench with his surges and offloads.

The young forwards are a nod to the future, but I think you should be aiming to win in the here and now. Mago and Sue are simply WAY better options than the young props from Melbourne and the Titans.

Sorry, I meant wouldn’t. I don’t think Samoa RL has their finger on the SL pulse.

[Mojo]

10 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Sorry, I meant wouldn’t. I don’t think Samoa RL has their finger on the SL pulse.

I think Samoa are looking to build combinations for the world cup because there's not many international games every year. They have a lot of players to pick from in the nrl. If it wasn't for injuries and other commitments this year those SL players wouldn't have got picked at all. Most of those samoan players in the SL wouldn't make the samoan team if all the players are available. I'm glad they picked SL players on this tour tho because they know how the English boys play and they know what to expect from them. Tyrone May would've been my pick ahead of Milford easily.

[Mojo]

Toa Samoa line up of players not on tour

1 Sua Faalogo

2 Murray Taulagi

3 Stephen Critchon

4 Tommy Talau

5 Brian To'o

6 Tyrone May

7 Chanel Harris-Tevita

8 Junior Paulo

9 Danny Levi

10 Payne Haas

11 Heilum Luki

12 Jayd'n Sua

13 Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (a chance to commit to samoa)

14 Spencer Leniu

15 Stefano Utoikamanu

16 Josh Papali'i

17 Royce Hunt

 

They are going to have a really good team at the RLW26

[StandOffHalf]

57 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I think Samoa are looking to build combinations for the world cup because there's not many international games every year. They have a lot of players to pick from in the nrl. If it wasn't for injuries and other commitments this year those SL players wouldn't have got picked at all. Most of those samoan players in the SL wouldn't make the samoan team if all the players are available. I'm glad they picked SL players on this tour tho because they know how the English boys play and they know what to expect from them. Tyrone May would've been my pick ahead of Milford easily.

I think there would be a better chance to pick young NRL players next year in the Southern Hemisphere. I would have gone with more SL players for this short tour to England (Sue, Mago, Ese'ese, May, maybe Lafai).

It would have saved on air fares and given the Samoans a better chance of victory IMO.

[Mojo]

34 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I think there would be a better chance to pick young NRL players next year in the Southern Hemisphere. I would have gone with more SL players for this short tour to England (Sue, Mago, Ese'ese, May, maybe Lafai).

It would have saved on air fares and given the Samoans a better chance of victory IMO.

Yup I agree

[Jack GB]

Does anyone know when the England squad will be announced? 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 09/10/2024 at 22:59, StandOffHalf said:

.

The young forwards are a nod to the future, but I think you should be aiming to win in the here and now. Mago and Sue are simply WAY better options than the young props from Melbourne and the Titans.

You must be crazy....Mago and Sue don't play in the NRL....how can they be better than largely unproven NRL fledglings?

[StandOffHalf]

7 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

You must be crazy....Mago and Sue don't play in the NRL....how can they be better than largely unproven NRL fledglings?

I think Vaalepu and Mago would be incredible prop changes to bring on, heehee. The size of the youngster and the offloads from Mago would change things up while May and Sue were resting.

There are some very good players in SL, thankfully.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

I'm in two minds on this series now

On one hand I really want us to send a message to the NRL and steamroller Samoa in both games 

But I have tickets for Headingly and can see value in them winning the Wigan game 

[Odsal Outlaw]

Anyone seen any reports on ticket sales? I’ve been keeping an eye on tickets left in the south stand and there seem to be more available now than last week in the two available sections

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I'm in two minds on this series now

On one hand I really want us to send a message to the NRL and steamroller Samoa in both games 

But I have tickets for Headingly and can see value in them winning the Wigan game 

Nah, forget charity. Give em a hiding.

[Click]

11 hours ago, Dave T said:

Nah, forget charity. Give em a hiding.

Indeed. 

Make all the players that decided to pull out feel guilty watching their mates get smashed around the field for 160 minutes while they sit back in Australia.