Samoa won’t be overawed by final pressure

George Clarke | November 17, 2022

Australia forwards Angus Crichton and Jake Trbojevic say the Kangaroos won’t be able to psyche Samoa into failure when the two sides meet in this weekend’s Rugby League World Cup final.

Samoa have become the first new nation into a World Cup final in 34 years after beating England in their semi-final to set up an unlikely meeting with Australia at Old Trafford on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

Their heady run to the decider follows a disastrous loss to England in the opening game of the tournament but they have been buoyed by the form of a bruising forward pack and the brilliance of Jarome Luai and 19-year-old fullback Joseph Suaalii.

Suaalii has rarely got the opportunity to show his wares at fullback at club level with the Sydney Roosters but has the chance to do so on the biggest stage of all, against his country of birth.

“We know what their threats are,” Crichton said.

“They are a powerful team with a lot of classy players including my man Joseph Suaalii out the back, he’s an animal.

“I have never seen a kid like Joseph, when he steps over that white line he’s a savage.

“There’s no chance he’s going to be overwhelmed.

“He’s different, you see a lot of 19-year-olds and you’d imagine the hype would get to them and it’s not the case with Joey.”

It was view shared by Trbojevic, who warned his teammates that despite Samoa’s lack of history in big games they still posed a significant threat.

The Manly lock was part of the side which lost to a rising Pacific power in Tonga in Auckland in 2019.

It was the first time Australia had been defeated by a tier-two nation.

It was also the first time since their 1978 tour of France the Kangaroos had been defeated by a side who wasn’t England/Great Britain or New Zealand.

“Any loss it doesn’t matter who it’s to, any loss stings,” Trbojevic said.

“That was obviously disappointing and then we didn’t get to play for two years and you try to forget about it.

“I think they (Samoa) have got a lot of quality players. They were tipped to do really well and I think they’ve lived up to those expectations.

“They’ve got a lot of high quality players; premiership players with good experience.

“I think that’ll hold them in good stead. Last week (against England) you saw in the big moments they didn’t get overawed or anything.”