With Albert Hopoate's first born on the way and his wife encouraging him to go to Las Vegas to play with the Raiders, Hopoate went with his gut (and the advice of some senior players) and stayed home. We hear about the early injuries and mental challenges in his career, the BBQ incident from last year and his memories of the one and only John Hopoate.

With Tinirau in Vegas, Will Hopoate gives us the rundown on the season opener, Sam has to convince us that Drua and Moana's three losses aren't as bad as it looks and Shellie Long returns for all things women's footy.

Tinirau is in Las Vegas so his cousin Tupou Sopoaga steps in and we cross live to Sin City to see how the NRL opening round is shaping up. It's also 'Culture Round' in Super Rugby Pacific and The Super W is kicking off this weekend so there's plenty to dive into there with Toutai Kefu joining Sam & Tupou.

Loraini Senivutu is about to kick off another Super W season with the Fijian Drua as they look to avenge last year's Grand Final loss to the Waratahs. Senivutu gave rugby a crack after being inspired by her brother and is aware of the legacy she can be part of and dreams of representing her country at the 2025 Rugby World Cup.

Before heading to Vegas, Tinirau rounds out his NRL predictions with some late changes after watching the pre-season challenge. And Sam covers the Drua and Moana losses plus a big moment for Samoan Australian rugby union legend Allan Alaalatoa.

And we wouldn't be doing it right without the great Toutai Kefu dropping by for all the rugby union preview chat you'll ever need. Plus, Tinirau throws out some more NRL ladder predictions and tells us which pre-season games to look out for this weekend. There's also a new segment and the return of Sam's least favourite segment of 2024 - knockout tipping.

Life is moving fast for the NZ born, Samoan-Niuean-Tongan NRL player who is impressing plenty and hoping to head to Las Vegas with the Warriors. Signed to the club at age 15, Vaimauga left his family and girlfriend in NZ to live in Brisbane in the Warriors COVID bubble at 17 and just recently had his first child age 20. We hear how he went from street footy to the NRL and who might be winning the race out of his Pacific Island nations to nab this up and coming talent.

Tinirau dives into the All Stars games and the pre-season challenge matches over the weekend and Sam runs through one of the best Super Rugby rounds ever as well as his first Fiji trip of 2025.

Nemani Nadolo went the long way around. Despite playing over 250 games of top-level rugby across the world and representing Fiji 30 times, his late bloomer story is one of rejection and perseverance. 

Through hard work and an openness to take his skills overseas, Nadolo ended up becoming one of Fiji’s greatest international rugby players and was even compared to the great Jonah Lomu. We hear about his upbringing, the rugby factory village he’s from and the reason why he shed tears while representing Fiji at the World Cup.

He didn't play NRL and not many footy fans would know his name, but Tongan Michael Fualalo is the go to guy at the moment for fitness and speed training for some of the biggest names in Rugby League. We hear how he got his start, his strict rules for his athletes and what young Pasifika kids can do to reach the top level.

There's only a few sleeps until the Super Rugby season kicks off so Sam delivers a big Moana Pasifika preview. Plus, Tinirau casts his eye over some trial games and tells us who will miss and who will just make the top 8 in the NRL.

Born in Port Moresby with Papua New Guinean and Samoan heritage, Keith Peters played for Penrith and represented PNG, rewarding all the sacrifices his parents had made. Sam & Tinirau hear from Keith about playing footy in PNG as a kid idolising the Panthers, finding his feet when they moved to Sydney plus being asked to present the Kumuls jerseys at the recent Pacific Championships.

With one year left of school, Onitoni Large is already signed to the Manly Sea Eagles and spent his Summer school holidays doing an NRL pre-season instead of hanging with mates. The Tongan, Indian, Australian is setting his sights on a footy career and so we hear about his dreams, what it was like training with Manly and what his last year of school entails before embarking on his rugby league journey.

Sam's giving us a full preview of how the Drua look in 2025, Tinirau runs through the next four teams on his NRL ladder predictor and we also hear about his ankle breaking moves on the weekend in the 9s.

Jade Coates has had to convince people she’s Fijian her whole life due to her fair skin, but all that matters is what she knows in her heart about her family and her Fijian culture which she is immensely proud of. Having won two Super W titles with the Fijian Drua team and represented Fiji on the international stage, Coates will forever be a history maker in women’s rugby in the Pacific nation. 

We also hear about the devastating rugby accident her brother had that rocked the Coates family but ultimately brought them closer together, plus which primary school grounds-keeper helped Jade on her path to a rugby career.