RLWC 2022: Joseph Suaalii escapes punishment, Junior Paolo charged, in danger of missing Tonga v England semi final
Teen Samoa star Joseph Suaalii has learned his fate for a raised knee against Tonga, but the team’s figurehead could miss the nation’s World Cup semi final against England.
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Samoa’s worst fears have been realised after captain Junior Paulo was charged with striking – leaving him in danger of missing the semi-final against England at Emirates Stadium.
While teenage sensation Joseph Suaalii was only given a caution for his knee raise on Felise Kaufusi, Paulo is facing a one-match ban after an incident involving Tongan forward David Fifita.
Samoan officials privately harboured concerns over the match review committee process and those fears have now been realised as they prepare to play the hosts for the right to qualify for the final.
Paulo has been the linchpin and spiritual leader of the Samoan side after turning on his back on Australia to honour his heritage. Bearing that in mind, Samoa have already indicated they will fight the charge with a hearing expected to be held on Wednesday (AEDT).
A number of nations have privately raised concerns over a perceived bias towards England during the tournament, in the main because of the logistic difficulties they have faced throughout the World Cup.
Samoa have not been immune. They have spent the tournament haggling with organisers over hotel accommodation and training fields. The Kangaroo have also spent the past few days negotiating with the tournament over when they can go to Leeds to prepare for their semi-final against New Zealand.
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The Kiwis are believed to be in the same boat. While Paulo’s future will be at the mercy of the World Cup judiciary, Suaalii will be available to take on England after he was given a warning.
The Sydney Roosters sensation was given a concerning act notice for a similar action in the NRL earlier this season after lifting his knee into Samoan teammate Nu Brown, but it is understood the World Cup match review committee did not take that into consideration.
He was outstanding in the quarterfinal win over Tonga.
“He was unbelievable wasn’t he for a 19-year-old kid,” Samoa coach Matt Parish said.
“He has been unbelievable for our group for a young man. He has been well schooled and well educated.
“Certainly, I think he is enjoying the ride at the moment. He certainly has a long career ahead of him which is going to be exciting to watch.
“He has been part of this and I am pleased for him too, because he could have chosen to play for Australia.
“He committed to Samoa like a lot of these young men which is pleasing.”
Samoan halfback Anthony Milford added: “He is a freak. No doubt about that, he is just building. He is only going to get better. So the sky is the limit for him.”
Those issues aside, Samoa are on the verge of a remarkable recovery from their shellacking at the hands of England in the opening game of the tournament.
That loss brought with it a welter of criticism but Parish held his nerve and insisted the Samoans would get better.
They now find themselves on the verge of a World Cup final. Asked about the criticism, Parish said: “I don’t worry about criticism, I am proud of this group and what they have done. This tournament was never about the first game, it was about the last game.
“We were never going to be at our best in that first game. What more can we say about it? We have moved on.
“The whole team is, the whole nation … they should be very proud of those young men.”
Tongan Kristian Woolf acknowledged the game changed when Suaalii left six defenders in his wake late midway through the second half. From the next play, Anthony Milford put through a kick and Brian To’o scored.
Samoa had the buffer they needed to get to the final siren and into the final four. Asked about the turning point in the game, Dolphins-bound Woolf said: “Letting young Suaalii run through us in the second half – I thought we needed to be a lot better there.
“He’s obviously a good player, he had a real impact today. We needed to be better today. If they back up what they did today … they are certainly going to put themselves in the contest (against England).
“I have no doubt whatsoever Samoa are going to be right in the contest.”
Suaalii’s poor technique exposed at World Cup
Samoa’s semi-final hopes will be at the mercy of a largely-English World Cup match review committee after superstar teenager Joseph Suaalii and captain Junior Paulo were placed on report in their win over Tonga.
Samoa, written off after they opened the tournament on the end of a thrashing from England, set up a rematch with the hosts in the last four on an emotional afternoon at Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington.
It wasn’t all good news for Samoa – Suaalii, who ran for more than 200 metres and produced the moment of the game to set up a matchwinning try, was placed on report after lifting his knees when being tackled by Felise Kaufusi early in the first half.
Suaalii was given a concerning act notice for a similar action in the NRL earlier this season after lifting his knee into Samoan teammate Nu Brown, but it is understood the World Cup match review committee will not take that into consideration.
“I would be surprised if anything came of that,” Parish said.
“He was unbelievable wasn’t he for a 19-year-old kid. He has been unbelievable for our group for a young man. He has been well schooled and well educated.
“Certainly, I think he is enjoying the ride at the moment. He certainly has a long career ahead of him which is going to be exciting to watch.
“He has been part of this and I am pleased for him too, because he could have chosen to play for Australia.
“He committed to Samoa like a lot of these young men which is pleasing.”
Samoan halfback Anthony Milford added: “He is a freak. No doubt about that, he is just building. He is only going to get better. So the sky is the limit for him.”
Samoa now face a nervous wait. Privately, it is understood they harbour private concerns over the makeup of the match review committee given they will face England in the semi-finals next weekend.
Their worries don’t just rest with Suaalii. Captain Paulo was also placed on report late in the match for an alleged forearm to the throat of David Fifita.
Asked whether he was worried, Paulo said: “Not really, I was quite surprised with it and the penalty in general.”
Those issues aside, Samoa are on the verge of a remarkable recovery from their shellacking at the hands of England in the opening game of the tournament.
That loss brought with it a welter of criticism but Parish held his nerve and insisted the Samoans would get better.
They now find themselves on the verge of a World Cup final. Asked about the criticism, Parish said: “I don’t worry about criticism, I am proud of this group and what they have done. This tournament was never about the first game, it was about the last game.
“We were never going to be at our best in that first game. What more can we say about it? We have moved on.
“The whole team is, the whole nation …. they should be very proud of those young men.”
Tongan Kristian Woolf acknowledged the game changed when Suaalii left six defenders in his wake late midway through the second half. From the next play, Anthony Milford put through a kick and Brian To’o scored.
Samoa had the buffer they needed to get to the final siren and into the final four. Asked about the turning point in the game, Dolphins-bound Woolf said: “Letting young Suaalii run through us in the second half – I thought we needed to be a lot better there.
“He’s obviously a good player, he had a real impact today. We needed to be better today. If they back up what they did today … they are certainly going to put themselves in the contest (against England).
“I have no doubt whatsoever Samoa are going to be right in the contest.”
Milford delivers on big stage
Influential playmaker Milford was man-of-the-match in a performance sure to please Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins.
“I want to thank all of our supporters and all the Samoans around the world. That performance was for you. We worked hard for each other. We didn’t want to let anyone down,” Milford said.
“My legs were gone 20 minutes into the last period but we fought really hard as brothers and stuck together.
“We completed our sets and defended as hard as we could.
“On to next week now. We have enough in the tanks.” In an electric start, Samoa’s Jaydn Su’A scythed through the line before stepping the fullback for a fifth-minute try Stephen Crichton converted.
MANU MAGIC SAVES NZ FROM WORLD CUP EMBARRASSMENT
– By Brent Read
Joey Manu has emerged as arguably the greatest threat to Australia’s defence of the World Cup after the New Zealand fullback put on another clinic in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Manu, fresh from running for more than 300 metres against Fiji, may be the only thing standing between the Kangaroos and a date with Old Trafford after the Kiwis barely survived sudden-death on Sunday morning (AEDT).
Manu was unstoppable against Fiji. He busted 11 tackles and was responsible for the try that levelled the scores late in the second half. A Jordan Rapana penalty and late Rapana try settled the game for good.
The Kiwis will need to get better if they are to hold any hope of beating the Kangaroos. Manu gives them a fighting chance.
“Joey is doing a great job for us out the back,” coach Michel Maguire said.
”What he did tonight, he got us out of trouble quite a bit there. They aged me a bit. We need to be better in areas of our game.”
Manu insists the Kiwis won’t buy into talk that they are the favourites to win the World Cup given they are ranked No. 1 in the world. Nor should he given the way they played.
After weeks of lopsided results, prompting some to claim the number of teams should be whittled down, Fiji were proving that David could beat Goliath.
The Kiwis were played off the park for large chunks of the match by their Pacific Island opponents, making a mockery of suggestions they are the team to beat at this tournament.
“I know where we sit as a team and that’s all I need to worry about,” Manu said.
“I’m not worried about rankings or who is a better team. I believe in this team we have got here.”
MANU THE MAN
Manu is forced to play in the centres at the Sydney Roosters due to the presence of Kangaroos fullback James Tedesco. No such issue with the Kiwis.
Manu is New Zealand’s first-choice No. 1 and he has been one of the stars of the tournament, eating up meters for fun.
He has run for more than 700 metres through three games and is the raging favourite to win the Golden Boot award as the world’s best player.
Tedesco is also in the running and the pair enjoy a good relationship.
“James is obviously a great player – I have played with him or a few years now,” Manu said.
“He has that fullback position at the Roosters. Whenever I tend to slide in there he helps me out a bit. He is someone I love to learn from.
“We will be on the opposite sides next week and he is a good mate, but I want to do what is best for our team. I will be competing against him.”
The semi-final will also pit Manu against former teammate Latrell Mitchell, who has been rampant for the Kangaroos in the World Cup.
The pair have had their issues in the past – they famously clashed 12 months ago – and Maguire will resist the temptation to put them against each other again.
Asked whether he would give any thought to moving Manu to the centres to combat the threat of Mitchell, Maguire said: “No, not at all. We all leave him there. We will be right.”
Manu added: “I am excited. These are the games you look forward to as a player against some of the best. I am excited to play some of them.”
FIJI ROBBED?
As fireworks exploded around the ground in honour of Guy Fawke’s day, Fiji threatened to produce the most explosive result of the tournament.
They led for more than three-quarters of the match, only to be overrun in the last 15 minutes as New Zealand finally found their groove and some dubious calls went against them.
With the scores locked at 18-all in the 70th minute, Manu lost the ball and referee Gerard Sutton ruled a knock-on.
Manu led the call for a captain’s challenge and it proved a smart move as the video bunker contentiously deemed that Viliame Kikau had stripped the ball from Manu.
It wasn’t the only call that went against the Fijians. In the dying embers of the game, Brandon Wakeham knocked on from the scrum.
Coach Wise Kativerata insisted the Kiwis had broken early and should have been penalised.
“We can’t change the decision but the biggest one was when Wakeham dropped the football,” Kativerata said.
“They came up too early.”
Retiring Fiji captain Korbin Sims refused to lash the officials when asked for his opinion.
“I would love to bit I don’t know if I am officially allowed to say it or not,” Sims said.
“I have a lot of opinions but I am not going to say them yet. I am going to wait until I am officially clear. I don’t think it was any one decision that cost is the game.”
JARED’S RETURN
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves missed New Zealand’s win over Fiji through suspension but he is in contention to play against Australia as Maguire looks to play his strongest line-up.
If the Kiwis have an advantage over the Kangaroos, it is with the respective size of their forward pack.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Jesse Bromwich are man mountains.
Waerea-Hargreaves, Moses Leota and Joey Tapine pack a punch as well. Australia’s only forward weighing in excess of 110kg is Reagan Campbell-Gillard, who has been nursing a corked thigh.
“Jared has been very strong in the background just getting around the players,” Maguire said.
“We have a few of them coming back this week. We will see how he (Jared) is travelling.”
The other notable returnee will be Leota, who missed the win over Fiji with a hamstring problem.
“He is ready to go too,” Maguire said.
“We pretty well have a full complement. I just have to check on Jared.”
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