Asiata is aiming to hit top form next season.
Hull FC loose-forward John Asiata.(Image: SW PIX)
John Asiata has stated his Hull FC form has to be ‘unbelievable’ if he wants to achieve an alternative goal next year: break into the Samoa international side once again. The Black and Whites’ loose forward last played for the island nation in 2024 against England and holds a desire to feature in the Rugby League World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea next autumn.
But to do that, Asiata, entering his second season of a three-year deal at Hull in 2026, knows he has to hit top gear. In fact, he knows he has to be right up there as one of the best players in the Super League, with Samoa having an embarrassment of riches these days to call on, including some of the very best players from the NRL.
But while the 31-year-old is aware of the challenge ahead, he will ‘never say no’ to representing his family heritage again. Of course, Asiata is Australian-born but has one parent who is Samoan and the other who is Tongan. He has featured for both nations during his career.
Meanwhile, Samoa are expected to aim for at least a semi-final spot in the tournament, with the draw coming out on Sunday. The Pacific Islanders will face France, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga in the group stage before the tournament moves to it’s semi-final stage. They hammered Tonga in this autumn’s Pacific Cup Championship and pushed New Zealand a lot closer than the end result suggests in the final.
They are expected to be right up there again, having made the final in 2022, with talents such as Jerome Luai, Brian To’o, Payne Haas and the like on their side, not to mention new Wakefield Trinity recruit Jazz Tevaga. And Asiata is hoping to join them, but he knows he has to hit the ground running in the black and white first.
“I’d never say never to it,” Asiata told Hull Live. “But the talent pool that is coming out in the Pacific at the moment is unbelievable. There are going to be a lot more younger boys who have been playing on the fringes at the moment – they will get more experience and they will be ready (to get selected).
“Watching the Pacific Cup, they were pretty unlucky to lose that game against New Zealand at the back end; they were the better team probably for the majority of that game but it ran away from them in the second half.
“They hardly had any ball, but the talent is coming through now and the players that are available to make that team are unbelievable, and I’ve got to play unbelievably well to make it.
“But if the opportunity comes, I’ll never say no to it. It will be great to go back and visit Australia and play back home. That would be awesome.
“It will always be a goal for me. I’ve just got to make sure that I look after myself and do what’s right for my team at Hull FC to be able to get picked. I know I’ve got to play my best footy. I’ve got to be unbelievable.”