Proud Englishman Lee Radford has no issues going to work for Samoa insisting: “It’s too good a chance to turn down.”
The Castleford Tigers boss is helping out Samoa ahead of their World Cup opener against England on Saturday. Ex- Leeds coach Richard Agar was down to assist Matt Parish but got a job with New Zealand Warriors and has headed to Auckland for the NRL club’s pre-season training. With so many NRL superstars strengthening their hand, Samoa have been made favourites against England despite never getting past the World Cup quarter-final stage.
There’s fears the likes of Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton, Josh Papali'i and Sydney Roosters wonderkid Joseph Sua'ali'i could derail the hosts' tournament from the off. So has ex-Hull coach Radford been getting stick from his mates for giving them inside knowledge? He insisted: “I’ve not had any abuse to be fair.
“I don’t think anyone can hold it against me - it’s chance to work with some of the best players in the world. Rich got in touch and said Samoa still wanted a coach from this side of the world with knowledge of players here. When he emailed me the squad, you can see it's pretty scary. It’s a great group they have. And I’ve enjoyed working with them. I’ve had a really good second week. They’ve been really receptive.”
Radford has not only been impressed with the obvious physicality of the Samoa squad as they step up their preparations for the St James’ Park battle. He added: “Physically, they aren’t disappointing. There are some real athletes in there and when you see them first-hand you can really see that.
“But what really stands out is the rugby IQ of the group. That’s the noticeable difference between club stuff and international. Joseph Suaalli’s almost held his own meeting this morning discussing full-back play. For a 19-year-old kid, to do that says a lot about his character. Everyone’s looking forward to this England game. It should be a real contest.”
And Radford, who took Samoa for an opposed training session against Ireland at Castleford's Wheldon Road yesterday, could be coaching against someone who is similarly surprised to be involved in the international set-up. Marc Sneyd, the scrum-half who won Lance Todd Trophy two years running when Radford’s Hull lifted the Challenge Cup in 2016 and 2017, made his first England appearance against Fiji on Friday. And now the 31 year-old could follow up with an official Test debut in the World Cup opener.
Radford said: “I messaged Sneydy a couple of weeks ago to congratulate him. It’s not before time. When I coached him at Hull I was always surprised he wasn’t in contention for England. In the international game you have to get behind your kicking game and his is great. You don’t get many cooler heads on a rugby league field than Marc’s.”
England boss Shaun Wane said yesterday he knows his half-back combination - Sneyd and Jack Welsby are vying to partner George Williams - but players will be told the team today before tomorrow’s official announcement. Second-row Mike McMeeken was wearing a protective boot leaving Friday’s game but has trained and remains in contention.
