New Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters says he’s “not really concerned” about reports of star players considering defecting to play for Samoa instead of travelling to the United Kingdom for the Ashes — so strong is Australia’s depth of talent.
Walters also gave his blessing to potential defectors, stating: “I totally respect players that want to play for some of the Pasifika nations.”
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Kangaroos stars Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Payne Haas are all considering committing to Samoa for the end-of-year Pacific Championships instead of pledging their allegiances to Australia.
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All three would almost certainly be picked for the first Ashes tour since 2003 if available for selection.
“I’m not really concerned about that. We’ve got great depth in the Australian team and the Australian players. We’ve seen that through the State of Origin with the amount of talent coming through in Australia. It’s absolutely amazing,” Walters said on Nine’s Today.
“If they want to choose to play for other nations I really don’t have a problem with that. We have great depth in the Australian rugby league community and our playing staff [and] our rosters, and all the clubs in the NRL have produced so many good players in the last five to 10 years.”
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From left to right: Australia’s Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Harry Grant. Getty
Fa’asuamaleaui was born in the NSW town of Orange, but his father is Samoan. The Titans gun played a solitary Test for Samoa in 2019 but has since pulled on the green and gold on seven occasions.
Tabuai-Fidow was born in Cairns, but his father is also Samoan. The Dolphins speedster played one Test for Samoa in 2022 but has since collected six Test caps with Australia.
Haas, born in Newcastle to a Samoan mother, has only ever played for the Kangaroos.
“I totally respect players that want to play for some of the Pasifika nations. I totally respect and understand,” Walters said.
Kevin Walters during his time as Broncos coach. Getty
“But I will be making some phone calls to those players and saying what my plans are for the future of the Kangaroos and particularly this upcoming series in the Ashes.
“I’m not going to try to convince these players because that’ll be a decision that they make.
“I’m just going to outline my thoughts and my ideas around the Kangaroos and us moving forward as a group.”
As eligibility rules stand, only players who pledge their allegiances to Australia or tier-two nations are allowed to play State of Origin. In other words, players whose allegiances lie with New Zealand or England cannot set foot in the Origin arena.
In an interview with 2GB’s Wide World of Sports this week, Kangaroos and NSW Blues legend Brad Fittler suggested Origin should be limited to players whose allegiances lie with Australia.
That would block players such as Jarome Luai, Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton, all of whom represent Samoa, from playing Origin.
