Samoa have booked their place in the Rugby League World Cup Final with a Golden Point win over England at the Emirates on Saturday.
Samoa defied the odds to defeat England in semi-finals but beating the Kangaroos would be a totally different challenge.
NRL legend Glenn Lazarus has already written them off despite the quality of their NRL Grand Final winners like Stephen Crichton and Jarome Luai.
“Samoa will be absolutely desperate to win it,” Lazarus said on SEN.
“I don’t think that they will beat Australia. I don’t think their defence is good enough.
“It’s great that they made the final and England will be ruing the opportunity. I think it will be a great game but I do think Australia will win.”
Lazarus played with Australia coach Mal Meninga who has revealed his plan to defeat Samoa using those NRL Grand Final winners’ teammates to understand how to defeat Matt Parish’s side.
“We’ll pick brains. Initially it’s about recovering and getting themselves ready for the battle that’s coming on Saturday,” Meninga told SEN.
“Then we’ll make sure we look at how we can improve our game from the team’s point of view. As the week goes on, we’ll look at Samoa and how well they’re going, and what are their strengths.”
