Canberra Raiders veteran Josh Papali’i has declared his commitment to Toa Sāmoa at the Rugby League World Cup in October in the UK.
Papali’i, a 23-game veteran of Queensland an 11-game veteran of Australia, was born in Auckland to a Sāmoan family but relocated to Logan in southeast Queensland as a five-year-old.
Papali’i played in all four of Sāmoa’s clashes in their unsuccessful 2017 World Cup campaign.
Now 30, Papali’i is pledging his allegiance to “the Motherland” once more in a major boost for the competitiveness of the tournament.
“As an older player, I feel like it’s a movement I just don’t want to be missing out on,” he said.
“Just seeing the likes of a few of the Penrith boys coming out and I’ve had few text messages from other players who haven’t come out yet saying they’ve put their hand up for Sāmoa … I’m looking to just play a bit of World Cup for the Motherland and represent my wife and my kids and especially my parents as well and just make Sāmoa proud.”
Papali’i has played 256 NRL games for Canberra and has appeared in 18 of their 19 games this season.
Penrith’s Brian To’o, Jarome Luai, and Stephen Crichton have all pledged their allegiance to Sāmoa in a revolution being likened to Tonga’s at the 2017 World Cup.
The likes of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Junior Paulo, Joseph Suaalii, Jeremiah Nanai, Payne Haas, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Murray Taulagi are among the Sāmoan-eligible names yet to confirm their World Cup allegiance.
The Sāmoans were led by the likes of Izack Tago, Jaydn Su’A, Josh Aloiai and Taylan May in their 42-12 win over the Cook Islands at Campbelltown in June.
Adding a collection of Origin stars to the mix will be a huge for Sāmoa as they aim to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament for the first time in their history.
Sāmoa are currently ranked seventh in the world and will enter the World Cup with the fifth-shortest shortest odds to take it out.
