Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:11 am  

Samoa have always looked good on paper but have always been underachievers.
They have never shown any real pride in the team or the jersey.
This time they have taken a leaf from the Fijian book and have spent a few weeks in camp in Samoa, soaking up the culture many of them have either forgotten, or had little contact with, since many of them were raised in Auckland or Sydney.

They managed a really good win over a near full strength Fiji to qualify for this tournament, which is probably their best result yet in International League, and a strong result however you look at it.
Since then they have had a solid buildup that has included a lot of events and bonding exercises to build up pride in the jersey.
In previous years, and even in the world cup, they basically just threw together a bunch of pro players at the last minute, many of whom had never met each other, and expected them to perform, which didn't work for obvious reasons.
On the other hand, Fiji did everything right in the buildup to the last two world cups, including many camps in Fiji and games between possible's and probable's etc etc etc.
I don't know if Samoa can win, but I do know they have given themselves a much, much better chance then they gave themselves in the World Cup, with virtually a month of camps and bonding sessions.
They will be up for the best game they have ever played, and will have a very strong supporter base at the ground as well.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:37 am  

BrisbaneRhino wrote:

Souths din't play the Roosters in the GF. And Ben Roberts is not a very good player. Mind you, I'm not convinced Matt Smith is either.

Sorry, Souths played Roosters in the preliminary final, which I attended.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:49 am  

It will be one of those games where we will have to ride a pretty big storm early and for a first game of a tournament this is going to be pretty tough.

As has been said their weakness is that they have no real leaders around the park so struggle when finishing their sets etc. We have to get into the grind and give them nothing early doors that might encourage them.

Although Ben Roberts has improved a lot in the second half of the season, he's still crap. Having said that I'm not convinced about Matty Smith either

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:00 am  

I wouldn't be shocked if Samoa win this one or if it is a close England win.

But in neither case do I think it is do or die - I could see England losing to Samoa and then winning against Aus/NZ. I think this is the most open 4N ever and I'd be surprised if anything was decided on the first weekend.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:46 am  

It won't be a walk in the park by any means but we will beat Samoa

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:32 am  

It's the best opener we could hope for. Makes a change as we usually end up getting caught cold straight off the flight. I fancy us though even without Peacock.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:32 am  

we will win by at least 20 and if we don't the coach should walk after the 1st game.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:55 am  

People don't realize that if it hadn't been for an incident at a Brisbane nightclub, Reni Maitua would have been playing for Samoa (at either no. 6 or no. 13) and the task England would have faced would have been much more difficult.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:05 pm  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

People don't realize that if it hadn't been for an incident at a Brisbane nightclub, Reni Maitua would have been playing for Samoa (at either no. 6 or no. 13) and the task England would have faced would have been much more difficult.

based on what? he had half a good game in the play offs out of the whole season.

Re: England vs Samoa: do or dire! : Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:30 pm  

Maitua is average at best. Widdop is a far superior 6.