Tonga have always been my favourite team to follow besides Australia, and as a Rabbitoh I always love seeing Keaon Koloamatagi play. Tough, athletic and skillful, just an awesome player to watch.
If I’m building a team from scratch, Keaon is the kind of forward I’m targeting. High work rates in both attack and defence. Able to transition between the middle and the edge. And just generally seems like a super positive influence on his teammates
That’s interesting - yeah I don’t mind it. Although I think given their positions at club level, RTS would more likely be a centre and Hammer would more likely play fullback. Shawn Blore was super close to making it ahead of Papalii for me - but I want to see another good season from him. Terrell May was voted best impact player by the RLPA too, so I included him ahead of Stefano
@TheLeaguie hammer is an origin centre with RTS Waa one of the best Fullbacks before he left, I also believe the Warriors would of made the finals if they had just put him at fullback and not catered to the cry baby CNK who's best position is centre Stefano is an origin prop where May can't make the starting side for the chooks Papali’i has been very disappointing since he left the eels And you need Fa'alogo on the bench for versatility, Clark is a better player than Levi
I don’t have an issue with Australian and Kiwis playing for pacific nations but it speaks volumes about how poorly the NRL have done in growing the game internationally when hardly anyone of the pacific nations players are actually born in their own country. I hate how the media talk about Rugby League being the greatest game of all when it’s not even really a world game when you see even second tier nations teams dominated by either Aussies, Kiwis or the English because there’s no professional rugby league competition outside Australia and England. Rugby league will only ever be a true world game when the Rugby League World cup is competitive and where the majority of every nations representatives are born and raised in their respective countries
I agree with the sentiment for sure, although I can understand that the NRL looks out for its own Australian interests before the international interests of the sport. Unfortunately - we have an imbalance of power, where our most powerful international entity is a domestic competition. I do also think though that a Pacific Islander growing up in Aus/NZ is simply more likely to become a professional athlete. Better healthcare and standards of living aren’t things the NRL can control
As a Samoan Australian, I know for a fact that your view on the game is both very over-simplified and very ignorant. There are MANY factors that contribute to RL not being played even semi-professionally in the Pacific Islands, but the biggest and most ardent reason stems from government officials (and in Samoa's case, the former PM of Samoa) doing their very best to deny any other rugby code other than Rugby Union, mostly due to corruption, stemming from a fear of losing their golden goose, as (speaking in relations to Samoa and the SRU) it is well documented that the Head of the SRU is the only official that makes all final decisions on the distribution of all funds, whether it be to programs, player payments, expenses etc, most of which end up in their own pockets, and/or being distributed amongst his families through the form of "contracts" or as 3rd Party Businesses bought on to "consult" the SRU. whilst the playing group loterally get peanuts. In fact, most of the Manu Samoa players that play for the blue jersey in Rugby Union, pay their own way to International camps, and live out of pocket just so they can represent our national team. All of this is happening yet there still isn't anything more than semi-pro Domestic competition, with most villages fielding teams of their fittest local players into its First XV. Just this reason alone has seen many attempts at introducing RL into Samoa, let alone out being a sport that's played by anyone in Samoa, fail. It started with Brad Fitler, who wanted to take programs and begin recruiting potential Samoan athletes in Samoa into NRL pathways, but that got shut down. Then the john's brothers tried. Then SBW tried. All. Shut. Down. The ARL are making the right choice by not putting millions of dollars into black holes like Samoa, Tonga, Fiji in terms of trying to develop league at even a semi-pro level. It actually works out to be cheaper to develop the PI kids in Australia and NZ. Not every PI player in NRL or ESL will be good enough to play for the Kiwis or the kangaroos. But they'll all be eligible to play for Toa, MMT or Bati. And to be fair, we'd rather that. We want the best playing in the best competitions. It's how we're recruiting for Union as well. Most of the Manu pay abroad in the biggest domestic competitions, and our coaching staff recruit from them. Most of them are 1st gen Brits, Aussie, Kiwi or even French. But their heritage all make them eligible. And as soon as they decide to wear the blue in either code, they are all proud sons and daughters of Samoa.
@itsfqndave oh look, yet another case of rugby union not allowing league to grow somewhere. They have hindered this game internationally beyond measure, it's actually ridiculous.
The reason why the NRL,AFL, NFL & rugby union will never dominate world sports is because there are certain physical attributes required to play those sports. Why do you think soccer dominates the world?? Because any useless human being that can kick a ball can play.
Papua new Guinea ❤❤ we don't have quality seasoned NRL players but we play with heart....give it a few more year and with the development of the game and introducing a png team into the nrl,PNG will be a powerhouse for decades and definitely we will take Aussie and Kiwis out of the number one spot....we live and breath Rugby League here and with experience and proper pathways to develop the game,it's goodbye to every Aussie dominance...Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬🇵🇬💯💯💯💯🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💪💪💪💪💪
Another great vid mate. Personally would've loved for the NZL & AUS teams to be included alongside the others in the video. With all these superstars spread across the Pacific Nations, those two teams would look drastically different. AUS has the depth to still pick a world class team, however NZL might suffer with many of their starting players moved to the other Pacific nations.
That’s true - I just didn’t want to make it too long. I do still expect that the Kiwis would be fine though. Off the top of my head they’d be able to put together: Fb: Keano Kini W: Ronaldo Mulitalo C: Matt Timoko C: Roger Tuivasa Sheck W: Will Warbrick FE: Kodi Nikorima HB: Jahrome Hughes P: James Fisher Harris HK: Jeremy Marshall King P: Nelson Asofa Solomona SR: Jordan Riki SR: Briton Nikora L: Brandon Smith INT: Phoenix Crossland INT: Kenny Bromwich INT: Leo Thompson INT: Josh Aloiai
It blows my mind how a nation of less than 15 thousand people has produced talent like that. Even accounting for the fact that they’re heritage players
@@tigerwalccer Believe me mate - I've got way more ideas for videos this off season than I could ever realistically make. We're charging straight through to 2025!
I reckon NZ gets the rough end of the stick overall - at least the Islands can play Origin now: apart from our last game, we just get stommmped. Don't get me wrong, the JFH led Kiwis are going to be dope, but the Origin lure always makes it an uphill battle vs Aus. Let everyone play Origin that qualifies WITHOUT the necessity to play for the 'Roos....see how we go then.
Yeah I’m definitely open to Origin reform. If it exists on a level above the international game (which realistically it now does), then let it exist separately entirely.
I totally agree everyone seems to get some form of benefit from the set up bar New Zealand (and England), the only way I see NZ getting some form of leverage is if the AB’s make a rule of if you represent Australia in anything you automatically forfeit the opportunity to ever play for the All Blacks. Then players such as Ponga and more recently Howarth, have to pick a loyalty to either country. “I wanna play origin, but my dream is to play for the All Blacks” would get a few handy players committing to the kiwis I think. Sucks that NZ rugby league don’t have anything themselves to leverage.
We’re with you Clez! Use the setback as an opportunity to study the game closely. Think about what you’ll do better when you get back on the field. Your body might be repairing, but 80% of the game is your mind. Focus on that for now brother 👊🏻
@@TheLeaguie "well yeah nah upon second thought running at the big islander prop isn't the smartest idea but appreciate the support big man" -clez Also when the new video is releasing
@@TheLeaguie I was gutted aswell love my brothas from Samoa And I'll continue to support Samoa Glad that a lot of good origin level players have decided to side with there nation next year Such as the hammer, Hass ect ect
@@TheLeaguieas another Australian, I agree - even though the 30-0 loss in the Pacific Championship final last year was disappointing, NZ winning at least gave international RL a little bit of a pulse. And the fact that the NRL has committed to Pro/Rel for the Pacific Championships means that it’s a long term project, and I’m all on board for it
You realise hamiso is also Torres straight Islander and samoan. So he can choose which to play for. Same wiry kotoni Staggs being indigenous and Tongan.
I've said for a while, I'd love to see a way for players to be encouraged to play for lower tier nations wherever possible. The Tier 1 nations have more than enough depth, so having as many top players playing for Tier 2 nations as we can would be awesome.
Agreed for sure. I think initiatives like multicultural round help with that more than we’d expect. As a player, I’d feel weird if I walked out for a game holding a Fijian flag, then chose to represent NZ instead
Yeah a few people have suggested changes they’d make to it. I think specifically around Terrell May. But tbf, he was voted best impact player in the comp by his fellow players
The two half’s Fiji are sadly missing, Jarryd Hayne and Brandon wakam 😂 😅 take away both their off field incidents, Fiji would have been very competitive had they both been playing. Hayne at his prime was almost like one man army. Also ex Rabbitohs half, John Sutton is Fijian. A Sutton Hayne halves pairing back in the day would have been epic!! It’s all on Donoghue now, who’s still young so hopefully he can develop into a decent half until another player comes along.
Yeah very true. Unfortunately with how big and strong these Pacific Islanders genetically are, they’re much more suited to being forwards or outside backs… rather than playing in the spine. Hopefully someone comes along for them soon!
Yes depth of competition internationally that's great,instead of the world cup being a three horse race now if France is decent eight top quality teams
This is why I believe the pacific cup should only feature Cook Islands Fiji PNG Samoa Tonga So that it allows the tier 2 nations to put up their best players. Push Australia v NZ test match early in the preseason year.
Would you then not have Aus and NZ playing at all during that time? I think the Australian interest in the tournament would decrease even more if the Kangaroos weren’t playing
Apparently the saifiti brothers could also feature for Samoa as being half Fijian and Samoan, but I doubt it especially playing mainly origin and for Fiji , I reckon other forwards ( if extended to super league) the likes of pati Mago and Ricky leutele
Yeah absolutely they can. Unfortunately this pacific championships, they’re playing for neither, because they want to ‘focus on preseason’… Every time a player makes that decision… our sport is damaged
They’d still have plenty of high quality talent. Just off the top of my head: Fb: Keano Kini W: Ronaldo Mulitalo C: Matt Timoko C: Roger Tuivasa Sheck W: Will Warbrick FE: Kodi Nikorima HB: Jahrome Hughes P: James Fisher Harris HK: Jeremy Marshall King P: Nelson Asofa Solomona SR: Jordan Riki SR: Briton Nikora L: Brandon Smith INT: Phoenix Crossland INT: Kenny Bromwich INT: Leo Thompson INT: Josh Aloiai
Do you think that png will become a more successful recruiting ground at some point? Leeg is basically a religion over there so it’s interesting that there are so few locally raised papuan players in the nrl
It’s to do with a lack of opportunity. NRL scouts far prefer regional NSW/QLD or areas of NZ, and the facilities in PNG simply aren’t at the same standard. They do have a team in the Queensland Cup now though - so that’ll reap benefits in future. Now - a solution to lack of opportunity would be to put an NRL team there. But imo it’s nowhere near enough of a concern to justify that level of commitment
Would love to see Rugby League adopt the same concept from Union. Instead of the British and Irish Lions, a Pacific Island Warriors team would be awesome. They would tour Aus, NZ and the UK once each every four years.
That would be really cool, but I think I can understand why they don’t do it. Union have the luxury of a greater number of competitive international teams. If you combine the pacific islands into one, you’re left with only four competitive sides. That’s much too few imo
Bayley Bentley -unfortunately was ruled out for the Bati in the pacific championship and can easily slot in at 6 for the Bati. Mark Nawaqanitawase will be an incoming talent also and can cover both wing and centre. All teams are looking solid,.....
Nawaqanitawase is absolutely going to be a big part of this side moving forward. I wasn’t quite ready to put him in yet ahead of some more established guys, but he will be in the future for sure
I’m very happy with the side, but yeah personally I wouldn’t have them play against national teams. Huge fan of the Indigenous v Māori all stars game though!
Papua New Guinea is the reckoned team ATM beating Fiji 22-10. Fiji consists of mainly NRL players whilst PNG with SL and Hostplus and DeBelin, Allick and Dan Russel. Don't write them of as yet.
Yeah that’s probably not enough to warrant its own video… but I can answer that question. The kangaroos side would be the same as it is now (minus hammer and Coates), and I’ve said in a couple of other comments what NZ would probably be
This gives us 7 teams for the pacific cup I think an 8th team is needed I propose USA If we are trying to promote the game there with the vagas round why not also promote it by putting them in the pacific cup
It’s a tough one because they wouldn’t be competitive. There’s a couple of NRL players eligible for them (Ronaldo Mulitalo, Royce Hunt) but nothing meaningful. The way to reduce that gap is by playing those fixtures… but I also don’t think the Americans would get behind a team that loses so massively
I definitely think he’s shown decent glimpses across his career. He’s been picked up by Warrington for next year - so they definitely see positives in him
@@TheRedV-odcast In fairness to him, he was against a squad of established NRL stars, in a team featuring no NRL talent. Even for Russell himself - that was the first time he'd faced NRL talent all year. I wouldn't hold it against him too much.
I mean yeah I definitely think Tonga v Samoa. That means something tangible to them. Sydney v Brisbane is something they’d know. But we only have so many of those teams with marketable place names
Suli consistently makes mistakes too 😂 id probs leave him out and stick with staggs and maybe go Fainu or Lolohea @ 5/8. Tupou still deserves to be in there over DWZ. I dont understand the Clarke selection 🤯
I was definitely tempted to go Fainu at 5/8. In a year or two I think that’ll be the best way forward for sure. When you say Clarke, do you mean Erin Clark for Samoa?
A handful of them were born on the islands, and very few stayed there for too long. But their parents are from there. For example, my Dad is from a country I’ve never been to, but I proudly say I’m half from there
In depth research young man 🤜🤛 this would be my Australian team. 1. Ponga 2. Fox 3. Mitchell 4. Turbo 5. Edwards 6. Munster 7. Cleary 8. Collins 9. Grant 10. Carrigan 11. Martin 12. Crichton 13. Yeo 14. Murray 15. Cotter 16. Barnett 17. Hunt
Yeah big fan of that team. And crucially, it’s still the best side in Rugby League. The Kangaroos’ supremacy wouldn’t even be threatened that much by changing the teams in this way
1:37 “state of origin standard” . That just shows u where the game is and will probably never grow bc of sog. he couldve said kangaroos standard or england but didnt bc origin is more appealing.
Well no, I chose my words very carefully because I don’t think that side is Kangaroos standard. Also, ‘Origin standard’ is the common phrase used to indicate something in rugby league being at the elite level. I agree that it’s upside down that we consider a state game to be superior to an international game. But I stand by that choice of words
Not stupid, and also not necessarily wrong either. Fiji are stronger on paper than PNG, which is what makes the Kumuls win the other night even more impressive 💚
@@TheLeaguie It's interesting that League has its International window with union. The Autumn Nations is definitely gonna dwarf the viewership compared to league Internationals, it's not even comparable. Don't think League will ever be as strong as Union Internationally, since Union is growing in Europe and Americas
@@dietermeyer3531 On a global scale, that's definitely true. Although I'd argue Union's viewership would dwarf League's irrespective of whether they take place at the same time. The League international window takes place at the best time for Australia, where the lion's share of the viewership is. And here, what Union does isn't really of any concern to League.
