White flag waved in international rugby league poaching war

The shock defection of Kangaroos World Cup winger Murray Taulagi to Samoa ignited a powder keg this week as Gardiner revealed he had approached every Kangaroo player of Samoan heritage, including props Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Payne Haas.

The pair were the chief architects of Saturday’s 38-12 defeat to the Kangaroos, scoring two tries in the opening 13 minutes to carve out a matchwinning early lead.

Gardiner did not hesitate to shut down a question asking whether the Queensland and NSW State of Origin stars remained his top recruitment targets.

“We’re very happy with the people that we’ve got in our team at the moment,” Gardiner said.

“The guys who we have are building experience to play for Samoa and what happens with other guys in other teams, that will be their choice down the track.

“We’ve got a great captain here (Junior Paulo) and got leadership in our team.

“We’ve got some really good young guys who want to play for Samoa and they’re in there to do their best. I’m not really worried about what other guys want to do at the moment.”

Taulagi enjoyed a special debut for the island nation, contributing tough metres on kick returns and crossing the tryline in his favoured northern corner at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Taulagi dropped a bombshell this week when he said he wanted to play for a “coach that wanted me,” in a thinly veiled swipe at Meninga.

In a twist of fate, the Cowboys star would have lined up for Meninga’s Kangaroos against Samoa if not for the suspension of Bulldogs winger Josh Addo-Carr.

Taulagi was one of the nation’s finest players in the defeat instead.

“I thought he was unreal,” Gardiner said.

“He carried the ball really well out of the backfield.

“That’s a really difficult job for anyone but a guy who is a winger, bringing it into the thick of the middle all of the time – especially against a group of guys he’s played with before – that’s a tough task and I thought he did a really good job at it.”

After an earlier defensive lapse, Taulagi recaptured the aggression in defence that characterised his play for the Maroons in a State of Origin series win this year.

Taulagi’s ability to shoot out of the line troubled the Blues and similarly disrupted the Kangaroos’ attack.

“He maybe got caught defensively early in the game, between him and Young (Tonumaipea) but I thought they corrected that really well,” Gardiner said.

“We wanted to be able to go out and apply pressure defensive … I think that suits Murray in the way he defends.”

Originally published as White flag waved in international rugby league poaching war