Parramatta Stadium

Well, I didn't think Samara and Tonga would be as good as they were.

But then halfway through the competition, I thought, you know, who knows who we're going to have in the final because definitely Samara and Tonga were outstanding but they probably played their grand final one week early when they versed each other out of Parramatta Stadium that was a big occasion and now when we look back on the tournament probably week one Australia versus New Zealand that was a cracker as well so we've waited you know four weeks to get it back on again I can't wait.

Australia flawless undefeated so far in this tournament do you think that can be beaten on Sunday?

Oh, definitely they can.

definitely

Charlie you're not too close to it like I think after the grand final everyone was sort of going you know what's a World Cup going to look like and you know the influence that Samoa and Tonga have had on the whole competition has been unbelievable that Parramatta Stadium last week was you know something that I'll never forget but even driving up to Newcastle on Saturday and just seeing all the flags on the back of the cars and then getting there and then obviously they got beat but It's such a celebration of football, like they're still out, they're singing their songs, the music's playing, they've got their flags and they lost, which is a credit to the fans.

But then, you know, you look back at the first game of the series, Australia versus New Zealand, that was a cracker.

Yeah.

Once everybody knew that two of the biggest middles in the game had gone to Tonga, it was a very easy decision for a lot of the others to follow.

And I'll tell you what, I was at Parramatta Stadium last week Wada, for Sam or Tonga.

And like you, you and I have been to a lot of sporting events around the world.

And before the teams came out, they were singing songs that my parents sang to me 60 years ago.

And a very, very successful World Cup from a viewership point of view, from a game point of view, and most importantly, from just a unification perspective.

of spirituality and joy and culture and all the fun things associated.

I was standing outside Gate B waiting to go into the ground at Parramatta Stadium.

I was with about 5,000 Samoan supporters waiting to go in an hour before kick-off.

Yeah, it's been huge.

I think two or three years ago, they probably had 10,000 out at Parramatta Stadium or Penrith Park.

And now, you know, I know it's slowly building, but to get 20,000 rabid fans and the quality of the footy was amazing.

And the passion shown from both teams was up there with a state of origin.

Love the show.

To a dog's legend, I have great memories of my dear mum taking me to Cumberland Oval to watch her eels versus my dog's.

And Lane Mack was one who was always happy to stay and to have a chat.

Yeah, he'd sign all the kids' autograph books.

So 20, 30 minutes away from each other.

So Tonga beat Ireland 22-20 at Parramatta Stadium.

And then Samoa beat Tonga 20-12 at Penrith.

stadium and then the game that you went to tony island beat samoa quite convincingly 34 16 pat richard scoring a hat trick no doubt andrew was cheering him on and therefore that took island to the knockout stage no repercharges here or anything there was only one quarter final so this when we tinker with the system It can actually be quite hard to explain to people because when I think of quarterfinals, I think of eight teams, four games.