Samoan rugby league star Jazz Tevaga has revealed his World Cup campaign almost ended before it began after a marathon championship celebration threatened to derail his travel plans.
Tevaga, who played a pivotal role in Wakefield Trinity’s historic Super League premiership win—the club’s first in 58 years—admitted he was “so stuck in the parade” that he nearly missed his flight to join the Samoa squad.
The 31-year-old revealed to Code Sports that he had been in the midst of a relentless four-day bender following the victory over Warrington.
“I was partying from Saturday to Tuesday non-stop,” Tevaga admitted. “The missus, she wasn’t too happy, to be honest, because she had to do all the packing. She literally had to pull me out of the pub because we had the flight back to Australia the next day. I was this close to pulling the pin on the World Cup because I was so stuck in the celebrations over there.”
Tevaga eventually made his way to the airport, safely joining his Samoan teammates in camp ahead of their tournament opener against France.
The veteran forward, who spent nine years in the NRL with the Warriors and Sea Eagles before moving to the UK, has wasted no time settling into the team culture. He even found himself in a lighthearted social media spat with his high-achieving countrymen. After an image circulated online featuring NRL superstars Jarome Luai, Spencer Leniu, Brian To’o, and Stephen Crichton celebrating their massive combined tally of 15 NRL premiership rings, Tevaga decided to insert himself into the conversation.
Using AI to edit the photo, Tevaga added himself to the frame and updated the text to “16 RINGS.”
“We call them Temu rings,” Tevaga joked. “Not as good as the NRL ones, but a ring’s a ring. I just thought I’d take the piss out of the boys’ post.”
While Tevaga looks forward to his campaign with Samoa, the New Zealand Kiwis have received a separate boost regarding Newcastle Knights utility Phoenix Crossland. The NRL has approved an application for Crossland to count World Cup pool matches toward his four-match suspension for a hip-drop tackle on Nathan Cleary.
Having already missed the Knights’ Grand Final appearance, Crossland now has only three games left to serve. Because he is barred from playing, the pool matches against the Cook Islands and Fiji will effectively clear his record, leaving him eligible for selection should the Kiwis reach the tournament semi-finals.
For now, all eyes remain on the Samoan camp, where Tevaga is hoping his performance on the field can be as legendary as his post-premiership celebrations.
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