FINAL: Australia 44, Samoa 12. Australia beat Samoa 44-12 at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Sunday night, November 8, to reach a 16th successive Rugby League World Cup final. Reece Walsh scored a hat-trick, his first in international rugby league, as the Kangaroos ran in eight tries after leading 26-2 at half-time in front of 41,259 fans.
The full story of the semi-final is in the original breaking report. Monday settled the parts Sunday night left open: the judiciary handed down a Spencer Leniu ban that reaches into next season, Leniu then used his own platform to attack the World Cup pay gap, Samoa’s leaders kept their complaints about the officiating alive, and the television audience set a record.
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The tournament’s official highlights carry all eight Australian tries and the flashpoints that followed:
Spencer Leniu Ban Reaches Into His Parramatta Start
The official NRL judiciary report charged Leniu with Grade 3 Contrary Conduct for his dissent toward referee Adam Gee, who sin-binned the Samoa prop on the stroke of half-time after Bradman Best’s try. An early guilty plea carries a two-game ban, rising to three games if he challenges the charge and is found guilty at the judiciary. Because Samoa are out of the tournament, AAP reported the ban would cost the incoming Parramatta recruit the first two games of the 2027 season, including the Eels’ Las Vegas opener against Gold Coast.
The rest of the charge sheet cleared the final. Kangaroos prop Tino Fa’asuamaleaui takes a warning for a Grade 1 Careless High Tackle with an early plea and is free to face New Zealand, as is Kiwis captain James Fisher-Harris after a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact charge. Samoa pair Jarome Luai and Ronald Volkman also take warnings. Leniu has until midday Tuesday AEDT to enter his plea, with any hearing set for Tuesday evening.
Leniu Says Pacific Nations Carried This World Cup
Hours before the charge landed, Leniu posted his real argument on Instagram, and Samoa captain Jarome Luai reposted it in support. The post was not about the referee. It was about money.
Let’s be honest, our little nations carried this WC. Yet we are paid 850 a game to the Aussies 30/40k for the tournament. There’s no secret that they’ve used our people to sell games. Look no further than Samoa vs Tonga.
The figures behind the post are stark. As Fox Sports reported, Kangaroos players receive a flat $40,000 tournament fee under the collective bargaining agreement, while players from every other nation receive $850 per match, a maximum of $4,250 even for a finalist. Leniu pointed at the next World Cup’s planned games in Utah and Hawaii, in front of large Polynesian communities, and said the next generation who choose their heritage nations deserve fair compensation. Teammates backed the post publicly, and Luai tagged the NRL in his repost.
Samoa Fury At The Calls, And A Television Record
The officiating argument ran in parallel. Samoa had two tries disallowed, the Crichton knock-on ruling and a later obstruction call against Francis Manuleleua, and finished on the wrong end of an 8-4 penalty count. Coach Ben Gardiner said his side handled it badly: “On the back of some of the penalties that were given, we just didn’t react very well on the back of it.” Luai told Triple M: “Previous games I thought Adam Gee had been reffing really well but that completely different tonight.” On Seven’s coverage, Shaun Johnson called the second disallowed try decision “diabolical,” and Trent Robinson said it should have counted.
What nobody disputed on Monday was the size of the audience. The semi-final became the highest-rating Test match in rugby league history, with a national average audience of 2.05 million and a reach of 3.68 million on Channel 7. New Zealand’s win over Tonga averaged 1.47 million, and the Jillaroos’ win over Fiji drew 903,000, the highest-rating Jillaroos match ever. Samoa and Tonga may have lost their semi-finals, but the ratings are the hard evidence behind Leniu’s claim that the Pacific nations carried this tournament’s audience.
Kangaroos Land In Brisbane For Kiwis Final
Australia arrived in Brisbane on Monday to start preparations for Sunday’s final at Suncorp Stadium, which kicks off at 7.35pm AEDT on November 15. It is a rematch of the tournament opener, which the Kangaroos won 24-22, and of the 2008 and 2013 World Cup finals. Australia chase a fourth straight title and a 13th overall; New Zealand’s only title remains the 2008 upset in the same stadium. Both semi-finals sold out, and the final is expected to do the same.
Kevin Walters was measured after the win. “Tonight was a really good performance. I still think there’s a bit more in us too, so that’s exciting,” the Kangaroos coach said. “Our middle forwards, I thought they stood up really well. They’ve been questioned and criticised by some people, but not within our group.” Walters and captain Isaah Yeo faced the media in the official tournament press conference:
Samoa’s tournament is over, but the argument Leniu started on Monday is not. His plea decision lands Tuesday, the final decides the trophy on Sunday, and the pay question he put on the record now sits with the organisers who sold out two Pacific semi-finals in a weekend.
