Samoa will go to this year’s rugby league World Cup believing they have the firepower to shock the traditional heavyweights and win it.

That’s the longer-term goal a star-studded Samoa team will carry into Saturday’s Test against fierce Pacific rivals Tonga in Sydney on Saturday.

The two teams meet at Centrebet Stadium in a rare mid-year match that provides invaluable preparation for the World Cup in the United Kingdom and France in October and November.

Asked what Samoa’s realistic World Cup aspirations should be, team technical director Nigel Vagana said: “Realistically, we’re going there to win it.”

“We’re wasting our time if we try to think about anything else.”

Both the Samoan and Tongan teams for Saturday are almost totally comprised of NRL players, with a number having opted to play for the island nations after representing other countries.

After years of losing top players to Australia and New Zealand, they have finally turned the talent flow in their favour.

Tonga captain Brent Kite and Anthony Tupou have both represented Australia, while fellow forwards Sika Manu and Fuifui Moimoi previously wore New Zealand’s colours.

The Samoan team contains a cluster of ex-New Zealand representatives including forwards Roy Asotasi and Jeff Lima, and backs Junior Sa’u, Kalifa Faifai Loa and Ben Roberts.

“This is very, very significant and it’s (a) very powerful the message the boys are sending out, just by making themselves eligible and putting their hand up to play for the team,” said Vagana, himself a former Kiwi international and Samoa captain.

“We’ve probably got about 80 per cent of the squad here who are making their debut for Samoa and they are all NRL players.

“To get the calibre of player and the quality of numbers putting their hand up, all at the same time, is really special and a testament to the group of guys that are willing to choose this pathway at the height of their careers.”

Vagana attributed the reversal in the talent drain to the support of the Australian and international bodies and an NRL program that reconnects players with their culture.

Samoa and Tonga are renowned for an intense sporting rivalry.

“When you play chess against Tonga, it’s exciting as a Samoan,” Vagana said.

“It doesn’t really matter what we do, we’ve always had a history between us and it has been fierce but at the same it has been respectful.”