CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
There has been extensive property damage to swathes of private and public buildings on Brisbane’s southern outskirts over the weekend, after a glorious rugby league world cup semi-finals showdown between the inventors of the game and the masters of the game.
This comes as Samoa conquers the United Kingdom in one of the greatest games in the history of the Rugby League World Cup, forging their way through to their first ever final after a nail-biting 27-26 win in London.
Penrith Panthers star Stephen Crichton kicked a golden point field goal in the final minutes, sparking euphoric scenes right across the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Logan and Western Sydney.
The rise of the Polynesian Islands in the rugby league word cup has been a fast and furious journey, especially considering that Samoa didn’t win a single game in the 2017 tournament.
This success has been put down to the sacrifice of Polynesian-Australian NRL players opting to play for their homelands rather than accepting the big pay packets offered to them by the Kangaroos.
Starting with Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita ruling themselves out of Origin selections in 2018 to instead represent their parent’s Tonga, the rest of the Islands have followed suit.
This loyalty to the family roots has not gone unnoticed, with pandemonium amongst the Samoan diaspora right around the world.
In fact, the celebrations in Greater Logan were so intense that hundreds of thousands of windows have been shattered by the collective ‘chee-hoo’ that emitted from the Samoan-Australian households at full time.
A Samoan term that is often used around family and friends in a positive light – “Cheehoo!” is exclaimed when one celebrating, or if something is exciting. The term is most similar to white boy terms like woohoo, yee-haw, or wahoo.
Sunday morning’s post-semi-final celebration is the loudest recorded chee-hoo in human history, with a piercing high-pitch capable of shattering every pane of glass within a 30 kilometre radius.
The post-chee-hoo clean up has begun in Logan today, as dual-cab Hiluxes draped in the Samoan flags arrive in the region’s central business district to begin shovelling up the shards of glass.
MORE TO COME.
