Australia triumphed, but it was a pint-sized Samoan debutant who stole the show.
Sua Fa’alogo would have gone close to man-of-the-match honours on Saturday night, despite Samoa slumping to a 38-12 loss to the Kangaroos.
Australia raced out to a 22-0 lead midway through the first half, but the Samoans did well to hang in the game – and it was their 20-yearold fullback who had the healthy crowd inside Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville on their feet nearly every time.
Fa’alogo played just the one game for the Melbourne Storm in the final round of the season and bagged two tries.
And such was the faith in his ability from rookie Samoan coach Ben Gardiner, Fa’alogo wore the No. 1 with Stephen Crichton moved to the halves.
Fullback Sua Fa’alogo impressed on debut for Samoa on Saturday night.Credit: NRL Photos
“He just backs himself, we spoke about backing yourself all week, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve played a Test match, an NRL game, or 200 NRL games, everyone here is equal, and when you go about your business, do your best, and you’re representing your country, so put your best foot forward,” Gardiner said.
“That’s him, that’s his style – I didn’t really expect too much else from him tonight to be honest.”
Samoan skipper Junior Paulo added: “You can tell he’s going to be a great footballer in the years to come, and will definitely be one of the superstars of our game.”
The best moment came when Fa’alogo chipped and chased for himself to score a try in the 51st minute, only for the bunker to pick up a knock-on in the lead-up play.
As the TV commentators quipped during the coverage, video referee Ashley Klein would have felt guilty for taking the try off Fa’alogo.
He was electric on his feet, defused every bomb, and even denied Kotoni Staggs a try late in the second half.
It had been 328 days since Samoa lost to Australia in the World Cup final. Jarome Luai (shoulder) and Joseph Suaalii (concussion) were missing from the opening Pacific Championships contest, but Fa’alogo is a good enough reason to believe the Samoans can upset New Zealand next Saturday.
Kangaroos skipper James Tedesco was certainly impressed by his rival No. 1 and said of Fa’alogo: “He was sharp, wasn’t he? He had our big boys grasping at air.
“He’s obviously a kid who is a natural footy player, high instincts, and great footwork and speed.
“He created a bit of havoc for them, for sure. He was just playing with a lot of confidence, he was playing for his heritage and Samoa, there was a lot of pride there; every time he had the ball he looked dangerous.”
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga would have been disappointed with the second-half completion rate of his side, regardless of the fact plenty of them came into the game off a lengthy spell. At one stage they completed at just above 50 per cent.
At least Meninga would have been thrilled with the opening 20 minutes, especially the rampaging performances of starting props Payne Haas and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
It was fitting both big men scored two of the first three tries.
Tedesco posted his own try, as did Cameron Murray, who made it five tries in five consecutive Tests.
Samoa hit back through Murray Taulagi, and just when they pushed for more points before the break, a short dropout eventually ended up in the hands of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who ran 80m almost untouched to make a potentil 22-12 scoreline out to 28-6.
The Australian players will get to spend most of this week at home before returning to camp for the Test against New Zealand on Saturday week in Melbourne. There were plans to celebrate a belated bucks’ party for Reuben Cotter who gets married on Sunday.
Australia won. Cotter avoided picking up any bumps or bruises for his special day. Fa’alogo was the real star.