The semi-finals for the men’s Rugby League World Cup is here and Kevin Walters has made some big selection calls.
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What does it mean for James Tedesco’s representative future? And why did Latrell Mitchell miss out?
Plus, Kangaroos stars hit back over claims they lack the passion of over teams.
Speaking of passion, epic scenes ahead of the Tonga vs Samoa clash have sparked calls for the NRL to go over to the US.
Elsewhere, the fallout from England’s World Cup exit continues.
Read on for the biggest talking points ahead of the semi-finals!
KANGAROOS HIT BACK OVER PASSION CLAIMS
Across the two World Cup semi-finals this weekend fans will likely see Tongan and Samoan players crying as they sing their respective national anthems.
Samoan winger Brian To’o was seen wiping away tears after belting out his anthem before the Tonga match last weekend, as were many others.
But don’t expect tears from the Aussies on Sunday night when they play Samoa.
In fact, a number of the players won’t even bother to sing the anthem – which is their right.
For years, Australian athletes have not sung the anthem so it’s not new news.
But one thing that has got the current Kangaroos squad cranky is the implication that they’re not as passionate about the jersey as those playing for Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand.
As a NSW Origin player Liam Martin is kind of used to it because he and other Blues have had to reply to questions about Queenslanders being more passionate about their state.
Martin showed in this year’s decider how passionate he was for NSW as he belted the Maroons’ forwards all over the park with bruising defence and ball-running.
And he told Foxsports.com.au this week that it was frustrating to hear that the Samoan players will care more when they run out onto Allianz Stadium on Sunday night.
“I know the passion that we have for the Australian jersey, so we’ll go out there and show it as well,” Martin said.
“We have so much passion for it and going out there and representing our family, it’s so massive for us.
“It sort of gets unnoticed, but it certainly means a lot to us and hopefully our fans turn up and get behind us as well.”
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Martin is from Temora, 425km south-west of Sydney, and the fact he’s from a small country town and has risen to play for his country has just made him even prouder.
“It’s a funny one because I obviously wouldn’t know what the mentality is like as a city person, but I know just how proud I am to be from a small country town,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of family still there, a lot of mates, and I know how proud they are of me.”
Harry Grant is another Kangaroo from a small town in Queensland.
And he wasn’t having any of it when told Samoan players would be prouder about their heritage when the two teams clash this weekend.
“I will speak for myself. I know how much this jersey and representing Australia means to me, my family and my community of Yeppoon back home as well,” Grant told Foxsports.com.au.
If anything, Grant feels it’s disrespectful to tell a Kangaroo that they’re not as passionate as others are about their jersey.
“It’s a really long journey to get here and you never want to take that for granted. You understand why you’re here, who you’re playing for and I’ve always dreamed about putting this green and gold jersey on,” he said.
“I think everyone’s journey’s unique and that’s what makes the game so special. You have people from all walks of life coming together to play rugby league.”
LATRELL THEORY… AND SELFLESS TEDDY’S HONEST ADMISSION
What about the three big names to miss out on selection for the Kangaroos in the semi-finals?
There is always going to be strong competition for spots in an Australian side, but seeing two premiership-winning teammates in James Tedesco and Sam Walker miss out along with a genuine game-breaker in Latrell Mitchell is still a big deal?
So, how does a champion player handle being benched and what does it mean for the trio moving forward?
There’s no question that Tedesco had a far better 2026 season than Reece Walsh who struggled for form and battled injuries, yet it’s Tedesco who has to warm the bench on Sunday night while Walsh runs out with the No. 1 on his back.
Sure, Walsh was great against the Cook Islands last week, but it was the Cook Islands. Tedesco would have played amazingly too had he been picked.
The Roosters skipper has just come off a starring Clive Churchill Medal performance in the grand final, while Walsh sat on the sidelines injured for a couple of months leading up to the World Cup.
It could be argued strongly that Tedesco’s been hard done by.
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He was told earlier this week that he would again be warming the bench as cover for Walsh.
“I’ll be on the bench and if anything happens I’ll be there. It’s my first time doing that in 300-odd games so it’s interesting,” Tedesco told Foxsports.com.au on Monday.
“I was backup (last week) if anything did happen. Reece was sort of hobbling in the last 10 minutes and I was like ‘I might get on here’, but he was fine, so yeah it’s interesting.
“He’s the incumbent, so I didn’t really expect to come in and take that jersey. I was just happy to get another opportunity, whatever that may look like, and I’ve got that.”
Tedesco said while he’s happy to be back in the green and gold after a couple of years out of the national side, the former Test skipper admitted his time has likely come and gone in terms of being an automatic lock in rep sides.
“You want to be the fullback, but honestly, I’m towards the end of my career, and I won’t take these opportunities for granted. I won’t kick stones if I’m not playing. So whatever my role is, that’s cool,” Tedesco said.
“I’m wearing these colours and got an opportunity to wear the jersey again, and who knows, another opportunity might come up.”
As for Mitchell, he too was overlooked in favour of an underperforming Bronco, although it sounds like Kotoni Staggs was always pretty well locked into the right centre spot for Kevin Walters.
But at the same time Walters has rightly said Mitchell is capable of playing both sides and, as a result, theoretically should have come into consideration.
So, why did Mitchell miss out?
Former Kangaroos representative and Fox League expert Greg Alexander had a theory specific to this Kiwis match-up.
“Does the Dane Gagai victory over Latrell, two of them, is that in Kevvie’s mind?” he said on SEN 1170.
“Because it comes down to Best or Latrell. Staggs is the right centre. I know Kevvie said Latrell can play on either side. He’s a fullback, he can swing from side to side. If so, if Kevvie is happy with that, would you have Latrell ahead of Kotoni Staggs?”
Staggs’ defensive decision-making has been questioned in the World Cup, with Alexander adding the Broncos star was a “big part” in the problems Australia had down its right edge.
As for Walker, he was coming off a gruelling premiership campaign with the Roosters that saw him battle through an ankle injury late and may also not be the best stylistic fit next to Cameron Munster.
Alexander, however, wondered whether it should have been obvious Walker was missing out when Ethan Strange was brought into the Kangaroos side once Mitchell Moses was ruled out.
“Tom Dearden should be the halfback and obviously that was in Kevin’s thoughts when he drafted Ethan Strange into the side and not Tom Jenkins and Sam Walker was probably never in the picture for Kevin Walters,” Alexander said.
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SHOULD TONGA AND SAMOA GET THEIR OWN SERIES?
The Tonga v Samoa Test match last weekend had the rugby league world talking and watching.
Millions tuned in to the game and it was not only the on-field action that caught the attention of footy fans, but the pre-game passion shown by the two teams as they cried while singing their national anthems and performed war dances.
Since the match, won narrowly by Tonga, fans and ex-players have debated whether it should be given greater exposure in the form of a three-game series, just like State of Origin.
James Graham was stunned when he witnessed the game as a commentator.
“If you want an experience, go to that game. There is nothing that will make you feel more alive than being inside that stadium, Tonga v Samoa,” he said on his Bye Round podcast this week.
“I have no association with Samoa and Tonga. I have a love of the game. But it ignites a feeling within you, you feel part of something. It was incredible.”
Graham is certainly open to the idea of a regular Test series between the two growing rugby league nations.
“The NRL have got a number of things that they will continue to look to grow, and the international game is one of those,” he said.
“Do they need to put a series on between Samoa and Tonga?
“I don’t know what the answer is, but we can’t waste this opportunity. If you want an experience, go to that game.”
Perhaps it could be played at the same time as the Origin series which would give the sport two bumper games for three weeks of the year?
The Samoan and Tongan players would no doubt consider giving up Blues and Maroons jersey for those of their heritage.
If they can make it as big as Origin, the lucrative match payments would also follow.
Play Origin on its traditional Wednesday night and the Test match on Friday night?
Another alternative would be an annual end-of-year series, or even international tournament like the World Cup, which would be more feasible when the NRL has 20 teams.
That would allow each team to play each other once and for the rest of the calendar to consist of a State of Origin and international break.
There’s even been suggestions that a Test match between the nations could be played in Hawaii.
Recently retired veteran rugby league reporter Phil Rothfield said Peter V’landys and International Rugby League Chair Troy Grant have to look at getting the game over to America.
David Riccio, meanwhile, said the Tonga vs Samoa game would be the “greatest vehicle of promotion” for rugby league in the American market.
“There are so many Tongan and Samoans throughout the US… have a look at Alex McKinnon’s Instagram on the streets of Hawaii. It looked like Church Street, Parramatta,” he added on Triple M.
McKinnon, who is holidaying in Honolulu, told Code Sports that the scenes in Hawaii were incredible while there were also a sea of Tongan flags in Utah.
“It was nuts and absolutely incredible – they literally took over the main street,” McKinnon said.
“That was literally my first thought when I saw all the cars and flags – play Samoa and Tonga here in Hawaii.
“Play it at this time of the year with Halloween and it would go crazy. The game would have a lot of people there. It would be an amazing success.
“We went out for Halloween because that’s quite big in Hawaii so we approached the main strip where all these cars and utes with people in the back flying Tongan flags, beeping horns, yelling out and doing the ‘T’ symbol with their arms.
“And then, all the Samoan cars came, people in the back of their utes doing the same thing. We went to dinner at a Thai restaurant for 40 minutes and could hear them the whole time. It went on for two hours and was about two hours before kick-off.”
DOES ENGLAND NEED A PVL?
English rugby league is at a crossroads on both foreign and domestic levels, and the sport in general in the country which founded the game has been stagnating for some time.
For the first time in World Cup history, the English have failed to make the semi-finals, which has led to some critics labelling the team a Tier 2 level nation as the likes of Tonga and Samoa surge past them.
Former England hooker James Roby told Foxsports.com.au a fortnight ago that self-interest among Super League clubs was holding the game back.
Another ex-England Test star James Graham said as much on his Bye Round podcast in the wake of England’s World Cup exit.
“I may argue that some of these people (club owners) in England come with good intent, but we all have little biases around what we want to favour,” Graham said.
“There’s so many voices at the table and it’s really difficult to actually make a step in the right direction because there’s a lot of these decision makers that have opinions, or have stakes, that are holding the game back, not on purpose, they’re not doing it deliberately, they’ve just got their own self-interest at heart considering the large sums of money that they’ve put into the game.
“I empathise and I understand, but ultimately I think we’ve got to let go of that and give it to somebody to just take ultimate control.”
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So, does English rugby league need to adopt the Australian way and employ one person, like Peter V’landys, to take control of the sport and make decisions in the best interests of the game as a whole?
Former Roosters and England Test prop Adrian Morley said a potential NRL takeover of the Super League “could be the best thing that’s happened to the game for many years”.
If England ever wants to be a World Cup threat again it needs to get its domestic league right.
Without a strong Super League it’s virtually impossible for the national side to be a force.
Graham’s pleas for a V’landys-type character to run rugby league in England highlighted the advantages of allowing a strong leader to take charge.
Graham used the Covid pandemic as an example of how important it was to have strong leadership.
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“I do feel like in England, there’s a lot of seats at the table when it comes to executive decision making and that consultation,” Graham said.
“It can take them months to get together in a room to actually talk about what we’re going to talk about.
“One of the great things that happened in Covid, Peter V’landys says ‘we’re coming back on this date’.
“He didn’t take that to the players’ association. He’s like, ‘no, we’re going back then’, and we did. We got there. Had we waited for a sign-off from the players’ association, maybe even from the broadcasters, maybe even from the government, we’d probably still be there now waiting.
“An absolute go-getter and that’s one of the benefits of having an independent commissioner or an executive chairman. He doesn’t have to ask anybody for permission to do anything. He just goes, ‘we’re on’.
“He’s got that ability to make decisions for the greater good of the game, not the clubs, not the players, the greater good of the game as a whole.”
If England doesn’t turn things around at the leadership level of the game, it can forget about ever winning a World Cup because Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa, and even PNG, are only going to continue to get stronger.
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