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‘Big pull’ revealed as NRL superstars makes huge World Cup allegiance calls
Cleary faces long road to recovery | 04:40The Kangaroos have been handed a massive boost ahead of the upcoming World Cup with Tino Fa’asuamaleaui pledging his international allegiance to Australia.
Get the expert take on NRL Grand Final Day with FOX LEAGUE’s extensive coverage, plus full and mini replays available post-game on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? It isn’t all good news though, with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow following in the footsteps of Payne Haas and committing to Samoa. Tabuai-Fidow confirmed the news on Tuesday with the Dolphins speedster to represent Samoa for the first time since 2022.
“Obviously playing for Australia is one of the biggest things I’ve done in my career,” Tabuai-Fidow told“And I do love the green and gold, but I think there was more to the family side after seeing all the boys, especially Payne Haas, make that move. “And I think the Samoan culture, where the heritage is, we’re building something special there for the country and it’s something cool to see.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Source: Supplied It wasn’t just Haas who influenced Tabuai-Fidow’s decision, with the electric outside back also telling reporters that it was a “big pull” to see the likes of Jarome Luai, Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton also go down that path.
Fa’asuamaleaui, meanwhile, made his Test debut for Samoa in 2019 before representing the Kangaroos, and was expected to don the green and gold at the World Cup this year. However, the Titans skipper had reportedly been weighing up a return to Samoa with coach Ben Gardiner trying to secure Fa’asuamaleaui’s services for the past two years according to Code Sports reporter Peter Badel.
In the end, Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters confirmed to the publication that Fa’asuamaleaui will be running out for Australia this time next month. It is welcome news for the Kangaroos, who will be without superstar halfback Nathan Cleary after he suffered a gruesome leg injury in Penrith’s preliminary final loss to Newcastle. Injured teammates Dylan Edwards and Isaah Yeo, however, are still a chance of playing through their respective knee and pec issues at the World Cup.
In other news, standout Titans lock forward Sienna Lofipo is out of the World Cup after confirmation she broke her jaw in two places during the Gold Coast’s loss to Brisbane. The Titans went down to the Broncos in Sunday’s preliminary final, with the loss compounded by a nasty injury to Lofipo who came off clutching at her jaw after going low in an attempted tackle on Broncos prop Shannon Mato.
Lofipo shared a photo of her X-ray to social media, with the injury ruling her out of representing Samoa at the upcoming World Cup. It won’t stop Lofipo from trying to get to the Dally Ms, where she is in the running for lock forward of the year while she is also attending the Titans’ awards night on Tuesday.that she at least got a free wisdom teeth removal as part of the procedure while she also said Mato reached out to check on how she was doing.
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