In the absence of Samoa’s ‘minister for energy’ Jarome Luai, young gun Sualauvi Faalogo has shown maturity beyond his years to bring a unique cultural vibe to the group ahead of Saturday’s Pacific Championship clash against the Gallagher Kangaroos.
At 20 and with just one NRL game to his credit, albeit a two-try stunner against the Broncos in Round 27, Faalogo has impressed Samoa coach Ben Gardiner with his maturity and willingness to make his teammates accountable.
Faalogo is one of nine Test debutants set to line up alongside experienced campaigners Junior Paulo, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o in a repeat of last year’s World Cup Final which Australia won 30-10 at Old Trafford.
Six weeks on from the NRL debut that left him feeling humbled and grateful, Faalogo is ready to step onto the international stage alongside the band of brothers he has helped unite this week.
“Sua brings a great vibe culturally to the group. He was born in Samoa and came over here to live with his brother and sister in Melbourne. It’s just an awesome story,” Gardiner told media on Friday.
Remember the name: Sua Fa'alogo
“He brings that vibe from Melbourne around expectations and accountability, so he has made the group quite accountable.
“He’s not the young guy who stands back and doesn’t say anything. He’s the guy who is prepared to talk when needed to talk and do his job when he is needed to do his job.
“That’s the type of commitment we’ve had amongst the group all week.
“I said to the guys that no one sits lower than anyone else – we are all equal. If you are in the Test side you need to step up and Sua is one of those guys that has really done that for us.
“The energy he brings is unbelievable.”
With Luai out of the series due to a shoulder injury, big-game specialist Crichton shifts to five-eighth where he will partner Test debutant Daejarn Asi.
Having scored a try in four consecutive grand finals as well as a double in the World Cup semi-final win over England and another four-pointer in the decider against Australia, Crichton could well hold the key to Samoa’s chances of springing an upset in Townsville.
“Having ‘Critta’ at No.6 probably does make us unpredictable,” Gardiner said.
“Critta and I sat down and spoke about being able to play a running role as a six and being the font line for his defence. I think he is one of the elite outside back defenders in the NRL so I would expect that he would bring that to a new level for a Test match.
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“Bringing him one position gets him closer to the ball and gets the ball in his hands a bit more and that’s what you want as a coach.
“The best thing is he’s excited about doing it and putting his best foot forward.”
After coaching the Māori All Stars at the start of the season and being a key member of the Kiwis coaching staff for the 2017 and 2022 World Cups, Gardiner was appointed in September to take over from Matt Parish.
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Gardiner said his first camp has been a "mix of high performance and culture" with the experienced members of the squad looking after the new guys and teaching them what it’s about to be in the Test environment.
"My job is to facilitate what happens with the team and role model what we want to happen so part of that is to role model culture, the religious aspect and the commitment to spirit that we've been building as a group," Gardiner said.
"For us to get the best out of our team it's that commitment to Team first of all, to football, to self and spirit that we have been trying to build this week and if we can bring those things packed together then I think we are going to get a really good outcome as a group."
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