Fast forward to Sunday and the Newcastle back-rower will be one of the players the soldout crowd cheers for at CommBank Stadium.
Manuleleua has a video on his phone when, after watching Samoa edge Tonga in the quarter-finals in bed, he carried his flag up to the end of his driveway and let out a triumphant cheer.
"My sister sent me a video of me running out of the house with my flag after the boys beat them," the Knights forward said.
"Going to those parades, the cars are probably moving like zero kilometres an hour, wasting gas.
"I think a few of us didn't have our seatbelts on and were hanging — sitting out the window. It was pretty hectic.
"Just the love that the people have for their country, to go out there to midnight parading, it's pretty good to see.
"It's just very special to be a part of the team that they're parading for."
Parades are planned across Australia, New Zealand and even in the US this weekend as the two Pacific giants go head to head.
Melbourne fullback Sua Fa'alogo, who leads the World Cup tryscoring charts with six tries in Samoa's wins over France and Papua New Guinea, has a similar story.
He, like Manuleleua, was also part of those celebrations in 2022 as a fan and represents a new generation of players from the Pacific nation who have grown up with the Tonga-Samoa rivalry, not as an undercard, but as a main event in its own right.
"I was just running around the streets with the flag," Fa'alogo said.
"It means a lot for our people and our country the amount of support we have from our people back home and it really means a lot to us boys."
Neither Fa'alogo or Manuleleua have faced Tonga in an international match.
But after a breakout season on Newcastle's run to the grand final Manuleleua believes facing Tonga - where the winner will top Group B/C - was comparable to playing the Sydney Roosters in the premiership decider.
"I think this will probably be the biggest game that I've been a part of," said Manuleleua, who has picked up man of the match awards in both of Samoa's World Cup games.
"Obviously, the grand final was pretty big but the rivalry between Samoa and Tonga - it runs deeper than footy.
"A few of my mates are Tongans. We know deep down that we have that hatred for each other … As soon as we cross that white line, there are no friends.
"But after 80 minutes, we get together, have a beer, and everything is all sweet."
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