Canberra Raiders star Simi Sasagi has revealed he will delay surgery in a bid to be fit for the Rugby League World Cup, while also confirming he will represent Samoa once again.
Born in Auckland, Sasagi first represented Samoa in 2024 and has played four Tests for the nation.
Coming into the year, he was viewed as a fringe player at the Raiders who would likely add plenty off the bench at times during the year.
His campaign will finish with him becoming one of the NRL's most improved, winning a spot in the Canberra centres as one of the club's most important players.
His absence, when he has been injured, has been felt greatly by Ricky Stuart's side, but he will now need off-season surgery on his shoulder to fix what he has been playing through.
Instead of having it straight away though, Sasagi, who was actually born in New Zealand and could have been an option for the Kiwis if he wanted to play for them, said he is desperate to represent Samoa again.
"That's what I want to do. The World Cup is one of my goals," Sasagi told AAP.
"You want to play with the best of the best and there's a lot of big names putting their hand up.
"I'm a proud Samoan boy, and that's the team I've wanted to play for as a kid."
In the chat, Sasagi also revealed he is keen to play in the final game of the year against the Cowboys, but admitted that, as well as the World Cup, would ultimately depend on how his shoulder holds up.
"I'll see if I can push for Townsville (next round). I'll try to push for the World Cup at the end of the year, but we'll just go with the flow and see if my shoulder holds up," the centre said.
"I don't want to go push for a World Cup and play with one arm again. I want to represent Samoa to the best of my abilities.
"So if I have to, I'll get surgery and put my best sporting foot forward for next year."
Samoa, who made the final of the last World Cup, are in the convoluted Group B and C for this year's tournament, and will likely need to find a way to beat Tonga in the group stage if they are to progress to another semi-final.
The tournament starts on October 15.
