Johns brothers, SBW coaching plan endorsed

By Vaelei Von Dincklage 08 May 2021, 7:00AM

Toa Samoa head coach, Matt Parish, has addressed the idea of having Sonny Bill Williams and Andrew and Matthew Johns help him coach the Toa Samoa rugby team.

The legendary Johns brothers made their interest in coaching the team known earlier this week along with league legend Sonny Bill Williams, working free of charge to help Samoa become a tier-one nation. 

According to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday Parish has expressed his excitement about the idea and is willing to go for it reported by 

“It’s exciting for the players, the staff, and the fans to have these sort of guys involved,” he was quoted as saying. 

“I’m excited by the fact they want to work with Samoa, I hope to reach out to them in the next couple of days and secure their interest and commitment moving forward."

The President of Rugby League Samoa, Tagaloa Faafouina Su'a, has given his blessings and guaranteed that Parish will be taking the Toa Samoa to the Pacific nation at the World Cup this year. 

“I actually spoke to the boys about trying to get Sonny on board anyway before any of this came out. This will just accelerate things," he said. 

Parish believes the presence of Williams and the Johns brothers could aid the team's performance. 

Under Parish’s watch, Samoa made the 2013 and 2017 World Cup quarter-finals, having won four of the past five Pacific Tests.

Samoa also boast two victories over Tonga, and came third in the World Nines in 2019. However, they have lost eight of their past nine Tests and only played three times since the last World Cup.

Parish believes that the Johns brothers and Williams could help with the development of players.

"We have some good players and the biggest thing is developing some leaders amongst our group. That’s where Sonny would be invaluable, as would Matty and Joey (Andrew)," he said.

Attempts by this newspaper to get a comment from the rugby league Samoa President, Tagaloa Faafouina Su'a was unsuccessful as of press time.

Tags

Toa Samoa
Rugby league
By Vaelei Von Dincklage 08 May 2021, 7:00AM
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