All Whites vs Samoa | Mon 18th Nov | 7:30pm | Go Media Stadium, Penrose

So do we think Tim Payne must have the worse injury between him and Kosta? Kosta is on the bench but Payne not in the squad at all.

Port nowhere to be seen

Friar Tuck

Port nowhere to be seen

Even Bloc 5 had a presence in the AW v Cooks 2-0 fiasco played on a midweek early afternoon! 

Stamenic with 3 shots in the first 4 minutes, he wants that goal doesn't he

Cracking effort and great save!

Holy save of the tournament from Samoa keeper just then.

Great early work from the Samoan keeper.

We were promised goals! Where is the abundance of goals?!

Weird game. Kinda looks like none of our guys particularly want to be there (understandable in a way)

Samoa looking strong defensively at the moment.

Fatu clear MOTM so far!

Jazzy Jeff

Weird game. Kinda looks like none of our guys particularly want to be there (understandable in a way)

Wouldn't exactly say that, our energy has been good

McCowatt breaks the deadlock

Now Chris Wood makes it 2 - made it look easy

Good pass by Mccowatt and finish by Wood.

They don't come much bigger for Woodsy! A goal against Samoa!

He'll be wanting at least a hattrick before he's subbed

Chris Wood's 40th goal for NZ and 2nd for the night

What positions does everyone think are up for grabs come 2026 for our best XI? 

The locks imo are Wood, Stamenic, Cacace and Singh to start. 

Both wing positions are open and one DM spot next to Stamenic. 

Bazeley seems to be experimenting with the CB spots aswell as right back. 

Bindon might be the most certain at the moment for me. 

Same as Garbett for the wing positions. 

All this set piece practice you feel like we'd finally be able to do something useful with our corners by the 27th time.

Glorified training run. We're just walking around.

And can we stop with the short corners...

This is a pisstake. I know it’s a weak opponent but they’re treating it like a kickabout with friends

Singh19

What positions does everyone think are up for grabs come 2026 for our best XI? 

The locks imo are Wood, Stamenic, Cacace and Singh to start. 

Both wing positions are open and one DM spot next to Stamenic. 

Bazeley seems to be experimenting with the CB spots aswell as right back. 

Bindon might be the most certain at the moment for me. 

Same as Garbett for the wing positions. 

I love the guy, but I'm not sure Singh is a lock at this point. Bindon I'd have in that category though

It's tricky to break down 11 players who are just standing in front of you. 

There is no space.

But really we should be doing better than this. 

Man that was pretty rough

Honestly kinda glad we're playing a bit average, yes we should be doing better but a huge scoreline isn't good for anyone.

Hope Woodsy gets his hat-trick though

Well 20 goals ain't on! I'm way off there.

Credit to the Samoans and their coaching staff. They will fatigue though, and double figures could still yet happen.

Amongst it some ordinary passing at times from the AWs. But yeah you will never see a better example of a bus parked and damage limitation the sole aim! 

That was a preety dire half a game to watch.

Singh19

What positions does everyone think are up for grabs come 2026 for our best XI? 

The locks imo are Wood, Stamenic, Cacace and Singh to start. 

Both wing positions are open and one DM spot next to Stamenic. 

Bazeley seems to be experimenting with the CB spots aswell as right back. 

Bindon might be the most certain at the moment for me. 

Same as Garbett for the wing positions. 

A question for the Mexico & USA games back in September, or for whoever we play next June. 

But just not worth asking when we play an OFC team, especially Samoa. Zero relevance to how our games will be at the World Cup.

I'm actually a little disappointed by this performance so far. 

I get it, it's Samoa. But these dicky passes and an over reliance on trying to beat the man in 1v1 is just show pony stuff. Pass and move, pass and move, look to create a bit of tempo with the passing too - the fundamentals of the game don't change just because the opposition is weak. I've lost track of the amount of times we've just passed the ball into midfield and then slowed to a walk or a stop. 

It's not the massive lead we were expecting or want against this kind of opposition at the moment, but I'm okay with the current score. 

We're not in any danger at all and Samoa are doing better than we thought, they are set up well defensively and if it wasn't for Fatu, the scoreline would be higher, good work by him so far.

Marko’s been really, really poor this window. Wasn’t too great against Malaysia either from memory. Tough to see from someone who’s usually a standout

Samoa are proper rancid. 

Someone tell Goran that the term 'putting it on a platter' only actually means something if the crosses hit their target...

This is a hard watch. Singh and Bell really lack pace.

This is utter pants. Get Libby on to cut through the congestion in the box 

Wood gets his hattrick - will that be the cue to sub him?

And that's a well-crafted goal. Well done Stamenic, de Vries, Waine and Woodsy

Woodsy!

mrsmiis

Marko’s been really, really poor this window. Wasn’t too great against Malaysia either from memory. Tough to see from someone who’s usually a standout

And this has aged well

And Marko! I spoke too soon