Wigan: England star Victor Radley has revealed his punishment from teammates after not knowing the words to the national anthem in his first game.
Sydney-born Radley made a highly-publicised defection to England this year and has been a revelation for coach Shaun Wane’s men at the World Cup.
But it was a rocky start for the Roosters lock, who admitted he never considered learning the anthem until it was too late.
“Against Fiji in the warm-up game, I never thought about it once until we went out and then I thought ‘oh we’ve got to do the anthem’,” Radley told Fox Sports.
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“I didn’t know the words and someone must have filmed it, so they got into me at review.
“All the coaching staff and team made me stand up and then they sang me the anthem.
“I wasn’t letting that happen again, so I made sure I learnt the words. It’s actually quite easy, I’ve learnt the words and now I’m all good.”
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England hosted Samoa in the tournament opener and the cameraman hovered on Radley during the anthem – but he was equal to the challenge.
“They stopped and came back to me and I thought they’re trying to catch me out here,” he said.
“But they had to be better than that because I knew the words, I got them.”
England thrashed Samoa 60-6 in their first game and they face the Pacific Islanders again in a semi-final on Sunday morning AEDT.
Radley said both sides have changed in the month since their last clash and he tipped a bruising encounter with a World Cup final on the line.
“They’re going to be better, we’re better, it’s going to be a tough game,” Radley said.
“It was a tough game in the first round, the score didn’t reflect how it was, it was almost 18-12 at halftime and the first 20 minutes was an absolute ding dong.
“So we know we’re in for it and it’s going to be a close game and a hard game, but we’re ready for it.
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“The first phone call I had with (coach) Shaun Wane he told me we were going to win the World Cup.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about and very clear on that being the goal, we don’t want anything else.
“The focus is Samoa this week but the big picture is we want to win the World Cup, we’re very clear on that point.”
Radley has been nominated for the Golden Boot award – rugby league’s international player of the year – on a list that also includes Kangaroos trio Josh Addo-Carr, Harry Grant and Cameron Munster.
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Samoa superstar Joseph Suaalii are also in contention and Radley warned they will need to shut down his Roosters teammate at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
“He’s been their best player, he’s taking yardage carries and making breaks out of nowhere so we’ve got to do a job on him,” Radley said.
“He’s a freak of a kid and deserves everything he gets.”
The winner between England and Samoa will play Australia or New Zealand in the final at Old Trafford on Sunday week AEDT.
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