Following in the footsteps of generations past
will be the first tier 2 nation to contest a world cup final after turning the tables on England in a historic semifinal.
A country tiny in size but big in heart, the nation has been inspired by a movement that is bigger than any sporting event. Videos of parades, hakas and singing from villages across Samoa are going viral and the celebrations are set to gridlock South Auckland tomorrow morning.
Head coach Matt Parish held his job after the 2017 disappointment when most columnists were calling for his head. Parish and his coaching team’s biggest metric of success isn’t about the performances of their star players; instead they should be judged on the way they have integrated NRL discards such as Tim Lafai and Ligi Sao and lifted them to another level.
Lafai, who was in semiretirement at the end of the 2020 NRL season with no contract offers in sight, eventually signed with Salford for the 2022 Super League season and was only called in by Parish when injuries ruled out Tyrone May and Hamiso TabuaiFidow. Yet, last week he was named in the tournament team alongside team-mates Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai and Junior Paulo.
Bookmakers give Toa Samoa little hope of pulling off the ultimate league fairytale. The New Zealand TAB has the Pacific nation at $6.50 in the head-to-head market against Australia’s $1.10.
1. Can they win?
It’s a huge ask. The Kangaroos boast threats all over the park but there is one area Toa Samoa can exploit. Josh Papali’i, Royce Hunt, Spencer Leniu and the skipper Paulo will semifinal matchwinner Crichton.
But it’s hard to go past teenage superstar Joseph Sua’ali’i at fullback. At 19, Sua’ali’i will play the biggest game of his young life up against mentor and clubmate Tedesco.
If Toa Samoa is going to upset the defending champions, he will need to find the energy to top the running metres and execute the big plays on attack too.
3. Will their fame be fleeting, or are they now league heavyweights?
For the good of the international game let’s hope it’s the latter but in reality, it will likely depend on the eligibility rules for State of Origin.
Toa Samoa is classified as a tier 2 nation but should the team be promoted to tier 1, alongside the Kiwis, Kangaroos and England, their players become ineligible for New South Wales and Queensland.
Turning down Australia to play for Samoa was one thing, but without a law change, will the Toa Samoa stars be willing to give up their spots in the greatest rugby league cauldron of all?
4. How significant is the influence of NRL champions the Penrith Panthers?
When Toa Samoa couldn’t win a game in 2017, Mate Ma’a Tonga went within one controversial call of beating England and making the final. They were boosted by the defections of former Kiwis and Kangaroos such as Jason Taumalolo, Andrew Fifita, Daniel Tupou and Michael Jennings while many leading Samoan players were representing New Zealand and Australia.
Luai has this week revealed , how he and Penrith Panthers teammates
The roots of Samoa’s rise to become a threat to Australia’s Rugby League World Cup dominance were laid 34 years ago in the front room of a modest house in Auckland.
It was there as a 16-year-old boy that Willie Poching, who would go on to captain his country, would watch his father, the Samoan team manager Eddie, work the phones trying to get one of the country’s big names to say ‘yes’ to playing for Samoa at the 1988 Pacific Cup.
Samoa’s journey to this weekend’s final at Old Trafford was triggered by the Pacific revolution caused by Tonga at the 2017
To’o, Crichton, May and Spencer Leniu made a pact to switch their allegiance to Toa Samoa. As the NRL season went on, names like Paulo, Sua’ali’i and Papalii joined them and the snowball effort continued. tournament as players returned to play for their ancestral nation.
It has led the likes of Jarome Luai, Joseph Suaalii and Junior Paulo shunning the chance to play for the Kangaroos with an eye on causing a historical upset.‘‘The players are now making Samoa their first choice,’’ Poching told AAP. ‘‘I’m immensely proud of how far they have come.’’
Landing a big fish, though, has long been a part of Samoa’s history.
Poching witnessed the first one when his father put the phone down at their Ponsonby home, turned to him and said: ‘‘We’ve got Olsen’’.
Olsen in this case was Olsen Filipaina, the former Balmain and
5. What will be the legacy of this cup campaign?
It could well prove to be a game changer.
A whole generation of children who were born in Australia and
North Sydney five-eighth or centre who was nearing the end of his career in Australia and with the New Zealand national team.
‘‘Only a couple of years earlier he had dominated Wally Lewis and that had given him super-hero status,’’ Poching said.
‘‘It was how he played with that
New Zealand with Samoan heritage will now be dreaming of winning a world cup in the blue and white jersey of the Pacific nation.
Regardless of the result or the long-term State of Origin eligibility blockbusting style. He was the hero we kids idolised.
‘‘I used to get the videos from the store from the previous weekend’s games of the Winfield Cup – he was the Polynesian pioneer.
‘‘We thought: ‘this can be done, we can attract the big names and get the guys to represent Samoa’.’’
Being proud to be Samoan was something alien to many of Poching’s contemporaries.
Many of them had grown up in New Zealand at a time when they feared they would be deported as part of the infamous ‘‘dawn raids’’.
‘‘I remember going to mum’s work and the police would come and take people back to the
rules, this 2022 group of players has created a revolution for Samoan rugby league.
At the unpleasant hour of 3am tomorrow, thousands are expected to turn up to fan zones in Ō tara and islands,’’ he said. ‘‘It was harrowing when you saw families being torn apart. People had to hide their identity but to be able to come out and say they were proud to be where they were from was a massive change.’’
Samoa’s qualification for the final has sent shockwaves through the world, sparking mass parades in the islands and among the diaspora. Their captain Paulo has spoken during the tournament about wanting to give back. Poching says for many Samoans it is sincere.
‘‘This team is proud of being Samoan and is inspiring so many kids to embrace their identity. At some point in our lineage somebody made a sacrifice to leave the islands and to put on the Samoa jersey is a way of saying thanks to that.’’
Mā ngere in South Auckland to cheer on their national team.
Samoan flags are flying in all corners of New Zealand for a team who couldn’t win a game here in 2017.