What: 2014 Four Nations opener
Who: England v Samoa
When: Saturday, October 25 – 5pm (AEDT)
Where: Suncorp Stadium
I Can Watch It On: Channel Nine
What happened last time?
They have never played before.
Things You Need To Know:
England captain Sean O'Loughlin will miss the Four Nations opener with a quad strain. The Wigan Warriors forward is expected to recover in time for England's second game of the tournament against Australia next weekend. Canterbury star James Graham will captain the Poms on Saturday night. England coach Steve McNamara has named four debutants in his 17-man squad – Wigan's Matty Smith, Hull KR's Josh Hodgson, Hull FC's Joe Westerman and Castleford Tigers Daryl Clark are the new men.
Samoa qualified for the tournament with a 32-16 win over Fiji in May. They are missing NRL players Tautau Moga, Reni Maitua and Sauaso Sue, who are under investigation by the NRL Integrity Unit following an incident at a Brisbane nightspot last week. The Samoans still boast plenty of NRL regulars including Frank Pritchard, Josh McGuire, Sam Tagataese, David Fa'alogo and UK bound Ben Roberts.
Reason To Watch:
The forwards battle. Samoa have some heavy hitters in their pack while the Poms have Tom and George Burges, oh, and James Graham. If you like big hits you will love this game.
Reason To Turn Away:
If England play properly things could get ugly for the Samoans on the scoreboard.
Say What:
"We have four players in the squad making debut. They are ready. They've been in our system for a long time. All four have been in great form during the Super League season. There is a slight evolution to the squad this year with some new faces on show. The debutants are exciting and they can prove themselves on the international stage," – England coach Steve McNamara.
"They are professional athletes and they knew we were training the next day. You've got to turn up in an appropriate condition to train. Personally I'm very (disappointed) but that's what rugby league is about. You get your ups and downs you've got to move on. You can't change what's happened. It's how you react to it," – Samoa coach Matt Parish not happy with players who got on the booze last week.
Final Word:
Whatever way you spin this England will win the game. It will be fiery, emotions will spill over at least once and the Poms will know they were in a physical encounter. But they will win comfortably on the scoreboard. England by 18.
Luxbet Odds:
England - $1.22
Samoa - $4.40
Teams:
England: Sam Tomkins, 2. Josh Charnley, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. Michael Shenton, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Matty Smith, 8. George Burgess, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. James Graham (c) 11. Liam Farrell, 12. Joel Tomkins, 13. Joe Westerman.
Interchange: 14. Daryl Clark, 15. Brett Ferres, 16. Tom Burgess, 17. Chris Hill.
Samoa: 1. Tim Simona, 2. Antonio Winterstein, 3. Ricky Leutele, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Daniel Vidot, 6. Ben Roberts, 7. Kyle Stanley, 8. Sam Tagaetese, 9. Michael Sio, 10. David Fa'alogo, 11. Frank Pritchard, 12. Leeson Ah Mau, 13. Josh McGuire.
Interchange: 14. Pita Godinet, 15. Jesse Sene-Lefao, 16. Isaac Liu, 17. Mose Masoe, 18. Dunamis Lui (one to be omitted).