Blaize of glory: Talagi's rise from fan to final

Blaize Talagi was one of the fans celebrating at parades in Sydney when Samoa reached the World Cup final in 2022.

Now he is on stage looking out to the crowd at Eastern Creek Raceway as Samoa prepares for Sunday’s Pacific Cup final against New Zealand.

“It’s a pretty surreal moment,” Talagi tells NRL.com. “It wasn’t too long ago that I was one of those fans in the crowds at the parades during the World Cup period. It is pretty crazy to think that I am now playing with those guys.”

As each member of the Toa Samoa squad was introduced to the crowd, the name of their ancestry village was also announced.

Most of the players were born in Australia or New Zealand, as were many of the fans waving Samoan flags and singing Samoan songs, but they all have a deep connection to their Pacific heritage.

“It means everything, not just for me personally but being able to see the reaction of my family and my country, Samoa, has been awesome,” Talagi said.

“My dad moved here when he was about 13 but my family is all over the world - Australia, New Zealand, Samoa … To see my family be so proud of me is an awesome feeling.”

Led by star winger Brian To’o, who threw his hat and shoes into the crowd, many of the players danced as they came onto the stage before spending more than an hour posing for photos and signing autographs.

Co-captains Junior Paulo and Jarome Luai briefly addressed the fans, thanking them for the support and vowing to win Samoa’s first rugby league silverware against the Kiwis.

“This is what it’s all about, being able to put on the jersey for our people and when we say our people this is exactly what we are talking about,” Paulo said.

Luai added: “685 baby! We can definitely feel the energy and all the support. I just want to say thank you to you guys. We will get the job done this weekend”.

Samoa have lost strike secondrower Jeremiah Nanai due to a shoulder injury but the Cowboys star has been replaced by St George Illawarra’s Jaydn Su’A, who missed the 34-6 defeat of Tonga due to the NRL’s mandatory 11-day standdown for concussions.

“I always knew the boys would get the job done in Brisbane,” Su’A said. “I think each week we are building, and we have got a lot of confidence behind us now so I can’t wait to pull on the jersey and represent our people.

“We have got so much support from the community, here in Sydney, up in Brisbane, over in Auckland and in Samoa itself, so it is going to be a massive event for us.

"The atmosphere is going to be unreal, and I am just really excited now to go out there and get the job done to repay the fans and Samoa itself.

“We saw in the Auckland and Brisbane games how that lifts us all and it gives us all belief. It is going to be an emotional moment for all of us.”

With injured World Cup stars Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu joining the camp ahead of the final and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow announcing he will follow the lead of Payne Haas and play for Samoa at RLWC26, more parades are being planned for next year.

“We are playing for heritage and culture as much as rugby league,” Toa Samoa coach Ben Gardiner said. “To see this type of support on a Tuesday afternoon in western Sydney is very cool.

“We know that when we get there on Sunday there is going to be flags everywhere, there is going to be blue jersey everywhere and they are going to be right behind us and that makes it very exciting.”