Why Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters should tell superstar trio to follow their hearts to Samoa

You can understand why new Australian coach Kevin Walters wants to convince Payne Haas, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow not to defect to Samoa. But this is why he should let them walk.

The moment you have to try to convince someone they should be playing for Australia is the moment you should give up trying.

That’s why Australian powerbrokers should happily let Payne Haas, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow head off and play for Samoa if that is their heart’s desire in the Pacific Championships and World Cup in a move which would be a great thing for the international game.

You can understand why new Australian coach Kevin Walters wants to talk to each player to understand their feelings but the one thing a coach can never do is tell a player where their heart lies.

For Haas, the feeling his heritage is tugging at his heartstrings is more than just listening to the Samoan anthems and the passionate crowd support.

Haas has spoken about how “weird’’ it felt when Australia was playing Samoa and he saw one of his uncles as the opposition water boy.

Then to be tackled and look up and realise the man who put you to ground was his NSW teammate Brian To’o was another poignant moment.

Times have changed in rugby league. Back in 1990 Wally Lewis was beyond shattered to be controversially ruled out of a Kangaroo tour on medical advice due to a supposed broken arm.

The arm did not stop him from playing a semi-final with the Broncos and he was so bewildered at being ruled out of the tour he offered to have his arm cut open to prove he could still play.

KIWI CURSE

On face value, the Titans’ win over the Warriors had several emotional and uplifting threads – but beneath the surface it complicates things.

The sight of Titans coach Des Hasler enjoying a victory in his 500th game as an NRL coach was uplifting but if, as the rumour mill suggests, he will be asked to quit at the season’s end, it only makes his looming exit more awkward.

Rumours swept the league scene last week that, had he lost, the Warriors game could have been Hasler’s last.

Des Hasler will be confronted with an awkward moment in 2025.

Consider this. It probably won’t happen but if the Titans won their last six games they would finish with 11 wins and be a mathematical chance of making the finals. In 2021 they made the finals with just 10 wins.

So if you are saying goodbye to Des at what point do you do it? Imagine if the Titans win their next match against a full-strength Penrith?

One point is clear. The most abjectly miserable times for a club are when you sack your main man and appoint a caretaker coach for the rest of the season.

GREAT COACH

Dolphins mentor Kristian Woolf deserves to be a frontline contender for the NRL’s coach of the year award.

The way the Dolphins are tracking he will be spoken about but won’t win it. But in many ways his performance has been as impressive as any NRL coach.

True, the Dolphins may have only won half their games and are sitting mid-table but, with up to 10 players out they are playing a wonderful style of football.

STAGGS NIGHT

Every team has a barometer player, the person who, when he is on, ignites the team. And when he’s not, they falter.

Brad Fittler reckons he knows the Broncos “BP’’ – Kotoni Staggs. Fittler said on Channel 9 when Staggs is going “wild” so are the Broncos but the “taming” of him with some big early tackles by Parramatta shaped the upset.