Suaalii IN as dark horses become legit title contenders with star-studded team

Samoa’s squad announcement is perhaps the most anticipated of the whole Rugby League World Cup.

If the 2017 World Cup was defined by the emergence of Tonga onto the world stage as a genuine fourth contender for the title, then there’s a strong argument to be made that this year will be the coming out party for their eternal rivals.

A lot of that has to do with the Samoan surge that has turned the Penrith Panthers into the best team in the NRL: the backline that Ivan Cleary picks on a weekly basis is highly likely to be available to Toa Samoa coach Matt Parish.

The latest to declare is Joseph Suaalii, one of the best youngsters in the NRL and a breakout star of 2022. With him on board, and likely to play fullback, it opens the door for Samoa to move beyond dark horses and into true contenders. Watch out England, the ambush is on.

Instead, they’ve got their sights firmly set on Newcastle and the hosts. Win the tournament opener over England and it will be the biggest of big statements. Lose, and it’s a win for the neutrals: sure, we like the underdogs story – though are Samoa even underdogs? – but we’d prefer a likely clash with Tonga in the quarters. That would stop the rugby league world.

The official squad was announced on September 27, and so we have replaced our predicted team with a confirmed 24-man list.

This is a huge list for Samoa. Pretty much their entire 17 from the Pacific Test win over the Cook Islands are in, and it’s a lot of big names.

Let’s get the Panther contingent out of the way: Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton, Taylan May, Izack Tago, Jarome Luai are going to be numbers 2-6 on the teamsheet to face England, injuries permitting.

In the forwards, you can add Marty Taupau and Josh Aloiai from Manly, Jaydn Su’A from the Dragons and Spencer Leniu from the Panthers.

Josh Papali’i and Junior Paulo pack a powerful punch up front and for the halfback role, Anthony Milford or Tyrone May, who has been very impressive in Super League at Catalans, will steer the side around.

Danny Levi has impressed in Super League for Huddersfield and is a specialist dummy-half who can interchange with Fa’amanu Brown.

Josh Schuster has ruled himself out, though given his form for Manly, it’s debatable that he’d get picked anyway.

Stephen Crichton. (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

Confirmed Samoa squad

1 Joseph Suaalii
2 Brian To’o
3 Stephen Crichton
4 Izack Tago
5 Taylan May
6 Jarome Luai
7 Anthony Milford
8 Josh Aloiai
9 Danny Levi
10 Josh Papali’i
11 Kelma Tuilagi
12 Jaydn Su’A
13 Tyrone May
14 Fa’amanu Brown
15 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
16 Junior Paulo
17 Marty Taupau
18 Chanel Harris-Tevita
19 Spencer Leniu
20 Oregon Kaufusi
21 Luciano Leilua
22 Mat Feagai
23 Braden Hamlin-Uele
24 Royce Hunt