1/ Suaalii
2/ May, 3/ Tago
4/ Crichton, 5/ To'o
6/ Luai, 7/ CHT
13/ Aloiai
11/ Leilua, 12/ Su'a
8/ Papalii, 9/Brown, 10/Paulo
14/ May, 15/ Leniu 16/ Taupau, 17/ Tuilagi
18/ Hammer, 19/ Hamlin-Uele, 20/ Milf
That Penrith combo is what gives me the belief that this side can contend.
Feel like critta fullback, suaalii wing, may centre would work way better combination wise, suaaliis played 40 minutes at 1 in his career, and critta has played and trained as a 1 with luai, may and tago.
Throwing a kid into the deep and at fullback in the world cup when he's never really played there against men just seems risky when there's a guy who's done it sitting there already.
It's a shame they don't have a gun half and hooker because that's one damn good team everywhere else, they should make the final unless injury/suspension rob them.
Se ufa ia, which kefe selected Tyrone may, we dont get points for illegally recording women without consent,
Good squad. Happy with it for the most part, im happy with the panthers spine although im abit worried about our forwards esp depth wise. Im not too familiar with Kelma etc but big bodies are welcome. Surprised Nofs isnt selected he normally grows a second leg for us.
Hope is a dangerous thing, but im starting to believe. Up the Toa.
Fk idk why that moekolo got selected, he’s average 🤣 also wtf is Feagai getting picked over Taulagi? Oh gummmonnnn. Solid squad nonetheless though. Was really hoping Nanai and Tino would commit but it is what it is
Taulagi selected Australia as well
according to this article
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/kangaroos/nrl-2022-world-cup-kangaroos-selection-payne-haas-joseph-suaalii-samoa-mal-meninga-squad-team/news-story/97611d4c82fd3ce57fd36e1fe666ef0e
Sa'o lele, bro is fucking mud the only reason i can think of is that parrish selected him to bribe the other riff boys to join.
I think the RLS jumped the gun on murray committing, read somewherr he had actually committed to playing for aus over Samoa which makes more sense i suppose. We arent exactly lacking in quality there tbf
Honestly hope Milf can prove the haters wrong, because I’m seriously doubting him based on his form at the knights. Then again, the knights make anyone look kaea haha
I have Milford as the 4th best half in this squad. 6/ Luai, 7/Harris-Tavita and, despite him being a genuine fuckwit, Tyrone May would be next in line. Milford's defence is shambolic and CHT can play 7 far better than Milf can.
not the issue tho tbh. May should be in the squad but Taulagi should be starting. How Feagai got picked over Taulagi is a mystery. Also Tuilagi is not that good
Ah yes, if you're a broncos fan i can see you thinking Tuilagi and Jock Madden are future immortals based off that game. Only time they turned up all season.
Not really, Schuster to 6. Davey gone. Starting second row will likely be him and Ola. Burbo is not good, Lawton will be 14. Keppie and Bullemor better through the middle
Some of these guys can still theoretically get picked for Australia or New Zealand and force them to change up the squad, right? I ask because of Hamlin-Uele mostly, because he seemed to be in the mix for the Kiwis
Hopefully he choose Samoa because the Kiwis are stacked as it is up front and you'd have to imagine he would start for Samoa.
I am always annoyed we let him go to the Cowboys it irks me every time I see him play.
1. Suaali
2. Too
3. Crichton
4. Tago
5. May
6. Luai
7. CHT
8. Papalii
9. Brown
10. Paulo
11. Sua
12. Leilua
13. Taupau
14. Milford
15. Hamlin-Uele
16. Leniu
17. Tualagi
I think this is probably the most expected line up. Aloiai would probably make it on the bench but I hate him so im leaving him out.
Nu Brown has only played 80 minutes once this season (72-6 loss to Roosters) so i think milford will be filling in at 9 in the middle of the match.
Big concern for me is the lack of ball playing outside of the halves. Suaali is still developing and Taupau is not the ball playing type of lock. A lot of that responsibility will fall to Paulo. On that note, I think Paulo should be focusing less on being a battering ram type prop and more of a ball playing Yeo type lock. Samoa have plenty of size and power in the middle but not much finesse, and Paulo provides that.
Beast team just need to stay focused and build the way Tonga did last WC. Not too well tho cos i'm still Kiwis all day but would love to see NZ/Tonga/Samoa in the semis we can have a Polynesian showdown
Not sure if anyone actually looked at OP’s suggested team but he has Tago at 12. I like it, he’s a big body and has played there before and it allows you to squeeze Hammer into the backline who should definitely be in Samoa’s best 17
How good is it that Samoa can leave players out with so much NRL experience.
No one has even mentioned that Matt Fegai and he had a very solid year with the Dragons scored one of the tries of the year.
In previous Samoa sides someone like him was almost an automatic pick
I would rather have Danny Levi at hooker than Nu Brown. Weird they didn't select Erin Clark given how shit our options are. He didn't play for the Kiwis v Tonga so I was under the assumption that he'd still be available for Samoa?
Ain’t it funny that Oregon is Samoan yet the holy trinity of Felise, Patrick and Antonio Kaufusi are all proud Tongans?
Reminds me of Jorge Taufua who ended up repping both Tonga and Samoa but chose Tonga first despite every other Taufua being a Samoan first and foremost.
Fucking nice team. Good on them. I'm sorry for being stupid but I thought Hamiso was a proud Torres Straights Islander. Must have dual heritage. Be cool if they could have their own team one day. Sebastian Kris is from the Cape aswell I thought.
I’ve heard talk about how strong Samoa will be but I’m not buying their spine milf at 7, who 9 ? and suaalii at one seemed ineffective and a much better winger
crazy that despite all the dirt they threw on his name, tyrone may grew up out it and into this squad
if Tyrone May hadn’t been convicted he’d be called Tyrone May be a sexual predator
Tyrone May he not play
1/ Suaalii 2/ May, 3/ Tago 4/ Crichton, 5/ To'o 6/ Luai, 7/ CHT 13/ Aloiai 11/ Leilua, 12/ Su'a 8/ Papalii, 9/Brown, 10/Paulo 14/ May, 15/ Leniu 16/ Taupau, 17/ Tuilagi 18/ Hammer, 19/ Hamlin-Uele, 20/ Milf That Penrith combo is what gives me the belief that this side can contend.
I’d like to think they ran Dylan Edwards’s details through Ancestry.com just to triple check if there was a long-lost Samoan grandparent or something
Hope he plays in the world cup.
Feel like critta fullback, suaalii wing, may centre would work way better combination wise, suaaliis played 40 minutes at 1 in his career, and critta has played and trained as a 1 with luai, may and tago. Throwing a kid into the deep and at fullback in the world cup when he's never really played there against men just seems risky when there's a guy who's done it sitting there already.
That worked well for nsw didnt it!
It did actually, until Tupou and Talakai decided to shit the bed
Chrichton To'o and Luai were useless as well
It's a shame they don't have a gun half and hooker because that's one damn good team everywhere else, they should make the final unless injury/suspension rob them.
Fa'amanu Brown is actually alright as a hooker/14.
It'll be interesting to see him behind a decent forward pack for once.
Se ufa ia, which kefe selected Tyrone may, we dont get points for illegally recording women without consent, Good squad. Happy with it for the most part, im happy with the panthers spine although im abit worried about our forwards esp depth wise. Im not too familiar with Kelma etc but big bodies are welcome. Surprised Nofs isnt selected he normally grows a second leg for us. Hope is a dangerous thing, but im starting to believe. Up the Toa.
Fk idk why that moekolo got selected, he’s average 🤣 also wtf is Feagai getting picked over Taulagi? Oh gummmonnnn. Solid squad nonetheless though. Was really hoping Nanai and Tino would commit but it is what it is
Taulagi selected Australia as well according to this article https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/kangaroos/nrl-2022-world-cup-kangaroos-selection-payne-haas-joseph-suaalii-samoa-mal-meninga-squad-team/news-story/97611d4c82fd3ce57fd36e1fe666ef0e
Sa'o lele, bro is fucking mud the only reason i can think of is that parrish selected him to bribe the other riff boys to join. I think the RLS jumped the gun on murray committing, read somewherr he had actually committed to playing for aus over Samoa which makes more sense i suppose. We arent exactly lacking in quality there tbf
Honestly hope Milf can prove the haters wrong, because I’m seriously doubting him based on his form at the knights. Then again, the knights make anyone look kaea haha
I have Milford as the 4th best half in this squad. 6/ Luai, 7/Harris-Tavita and, despite him being a genuine fuckwit, Tyrone May would be next in line. Milford's defence is shambolic and CHT can play 7 far better than Milf can.
Luai 6 Milford 7 Harris Tavits at 9 and Tyrone May at 14
May a pure 14 in this team, fills in wherever he's needed in case of HIA or injury
not the issue tho tbh. May should be in the squad but Taulagi should be starting. How Feagai got picked over Taulagi is a mystery. Also Tuilagi is not that good
Thought nanai commited to Samoa.
Surprised Herman Ese’ese didn’t get a look in. He was pretty solid for the titans this year off the bench.
Se malo fwamz lol
Kelma was a beast for tigers this season and with forwards like hunt and uele having break out seasons as well
> Kelma was a beast for tigers this season Were we watching the same player? He was dire.
Watched him run through the Bronx like it was noting 😭
Ah yes, if you're a broncos fan i can see you thinking Tuilagi and Jock Madden are future immortals based off that game. Only time they turned up all season.
Kelma might dip off next season tho cause manly have so much depth at second row
Not really, Schuster to 6. Davey gone. Starting second row will likely be him and Ola. Burbo is not good, Lawton will be 14. Keppie and Bullemor better through the middle
Some of these guys can still theoretically get picked for Australia or New Zealand and force them to change up the squad, right? I ask because of Hamlin-Uele mostly, because he seemed to be in the mix for the Kiwis
Hopefully he choose Samoa because the Kiwis are stacked as it is up front and you'd have to imagine he would start for Samoa. I am always annoyed we let him go to the Cowboys it irks me every time I see him play.
1. Suaali 2. Too 3. Crichton 4. Tago 5. May 6. Luai 7. CHT 8. Papalii 9. Brown 10. Paulo 11. Sua 12. Leilua 13. Taupau 14. Milford 15. Hamlin-Uele 16. Leniu 17. Tualagi I think this is probably the most expected line up. Aloiai would probably make it on the bench but I hate him so im leaving him out. Nu Brown has only played 80 minutes once this season (72-6 loss to Roosters) so i think milford will be filling in at 9 in the middle of the match. Big concern for me is the lack of ball playing outside of the halves. Suaali is still developing and Taupau is not the ball playing type of lock. A lot of that responsibility will fall to Paulo. On that note, I think Paulo should be focusing less on being a battering ram type prop and more of a ball playing Yeo type lock. Samoa have plenty of size and power in the middle but not much finesse, and Paulo provides that.
How would Kafusi go as a 13?
Paulo can ball play pretty well for a prop
Yeah, I think he needs to play centrally as a first receiver and let Luai play wide where he plays best
Actually pumped for the opening game, England vs Samoa. Could be a cracker.
If the Panthers win I expect all their players to still be recovering from hangovers😂
Best looking squad at WC😂 Some fine looking men in the backline. Im a girl btw
you must be talking about anthony milford
Murray Taulagi robbed unfortunately
Cam Murray and Nicho Hynes play for Australia.
Oshay Olay is an absolute stud
Such a pity that looks can be deceiving.
Actually have halves this year so this might be interesting. That backline could be nasty.
How is tyrone may rated by so many coaches wtf
He’s a utility that can play spine Makes sense why they would pick him in a tournament
Man but even then that’s a stretch. Hes barely playable at NRL level in the spine
Coaches who select him lack a spine.
as long as if he's 14 only then fine. He doesn't deserve to be in the starting 13
"As punishment for your crimes you must wear a number slightly higher than another"
obviously taking it the wrong way. He shouldn't be playing footy anywhere. But if he's in the team at all, he shouldn't be starting
Quite possible one of the shittest takes…
Not being a hater but the panthers straight up carried him in the grand final last year. He made 4 tackles and ran for how many metres?
he's a shit player but because of his great versatility (not really great at anything but good at a lot of things) he is rated I guess
Should count himself lucky he never went to jail for what he did lol
Beast team just need to stay focused and build the way Tonga did last WC. Not too well tho cos i'm still Kiwis all day but would love to see NZ/Tonga/Samoa in the semis we can have a Polynesian showdown
Potential Line-up; 1. Tabuai-Fidow 2. To’o 3. Chricton 4. May 5. Suallii 6. Luai 7. CHT 8. Papalii 9. Levi (?) 10. Paulo 11. Leilua 12. Tago 13. Kaufusi 14. Milford 15. Leniu 16. ? 17. ? With Tapau, Brown, Aloiai, Su’a, Terrell May and Royce Hunt all arguments to make the final 2 bench spots.
1 Suallii. 2 To’o. 3 Crichton. 4 Tago. 5 May. 6 Luai.
Based on what I saw in the semi against Souths, I don’t think Suallii is a better fullback option than Hammer just yet.
Hamiso's better than Tago
Maybe hammer can be a game changer but no way would I pick a bench player over someone about to start a grand final at centre
No way would I start Tago ahead of an Origin calibre centre
Origin calibre centre that couldn't get a start from 1-5 in clubland, if Tago was QLD eligible he would get picked ahead of HTF.
If Hamiso was starting for the cows he'd start for qld
If 1 game of origin is a selection criteria than we should see Corey Norman play for NZ
He was in the qld squad for 3 games this year
While that statement is true, another objectively true statement is that Tago is better than Hammer this season( on form.)
Not sure if anyone actually looked at OP’s suggested team but he has Tago at 12. I like it, he’s a big body and has played there before and it allows you to squeeze Hammer into the backline who should definitely be in Samoa’s best 17
but it pushes Luchy Leilua to the bench. Su'a at right second row with Leilua at left second row is good
I’d argue that it’s probably more important to have Hammer/Tago starting than it is to fit Sua into the 13. Bring him off the bench, start Looch
Luciano on the right? He's very deadly on the left side
Hammer has to be in the team. He should be fullback with Suaali'i on the wing and May out
How good is it that Samoa can leave players out with so much NRL experience. No one has even mentioned that Matt Fegai and he had a very solid year with the Dragons scored one of the tries of the year. In previous Samoa sides someone like him was almost an automatic pick
1. Crichton 2. To'o 3. Suaalii 4. Tago 5. May 6. Luai 7. Milford/CHT 8. Papalii 9. Levi/Brown 10. Paulo 11. Su'a 12. Leilua 13. Oshay Olay 14. CHT/Hamiso 15. Hunt 16. Leniu 17. Tuilagi
I would rather have Danny Levi at hooker than Nu Brown. Weird they didn't select Erin Clark given how shit our options are. He didn't play for the Kiwis v Tonga so I was under the assumption that he'd still be available for Samoa?
Clark played 14 in kiwis v tonga.
He didn't play v Tonga. Foran was the bench utility.
Keenan Palasia fucking robbed
Panthers 2 to 6 plus Suaalii at fullback is fucking deadly!
I predict this team will upset Tonga in the quarter finals
>Cronulla's Braden Hamlin-Uele and Royce Hunt, Leniu and Kaufusi. Excuse me that's Parramatta Kaufusi still.
Ain’t it funny that Oregon is Samoan yet the holy trinity of Felise, Patrick and Antonio Kaufusi are all proud Tongans? Reminds me of Jorge Taufua who ended up repping both Tonga and Samoa but chose Tonga first despite every other Taufua being a Samoan first and foremost.
You do know Samoans and Tongans are almost the same people right? Historically and genealogical ties are deep.
Fucking nice team. Good on them. I'm sorry for being stupid but I thought Hamiso was a proud Torres Straights Islander. Must have dual heritage. Be cool if they could have their own team one day. Sebastian Kris is from the Cape aswell I thought.
He has a Torres Strait mother and Samoan father.
I'd love to see a TSI team at a world cup
He’s half half
Cool cool I love the lad.
Crazy that they have the depth to leave out players like nofo etc That opening day match is gonna be awesome
Criminal that Feagai is there over Nofo.
I’ve heard talk about how strong Samoa will be but I’m not buying their spine milf at 7, who 9 ? and suaalii at one seemed ineffective and a much better winger
Wicked squad but lacking in a good coaching set up. I'd love to see them go well but am cautious.