THE MAKING OF TOA SAMOA: PART 1 – Starting a movement for Samoan players to represent their Families and Heritage

APIA, SAMOA – 27 DECEMBER 2022: The Making of Toa Samoa
The celebrated global success of Toa Samoa today, traces its roots to the initiative by a few Samoans back in 1985. They registered an entity with the underlying concept of a team to represent Samoa internationally. It was the start of a movement for Samoan players to represent their families and heritage. That entity was the Western Samoan Rugby League. This is the first in series of six articles on Rugby League Samoa’s 30 year history in celebration of Toa Samoa‘s 2022 World Cup phenomenal success.

PART ONE: Starting a movement for Samoan players to represent their Families and Heritage

By Lance Polu

In 1985, Auckland based Swanny Stowers and his wife Lyndsay took an application to register the Western Samoa Rugby League with the full blessing of the Western Samoa consulate in Auckland, New Zealand. The World Rugby League approved the application later that year.

In 1986 the Western Samoa team received an invitation to take part in the Pacific Cup in the Rarotonga, the Cook Islands. This was the very first ever game played by a Samoan rugby league side in 1986. The team was coached by Joe Raymond and the captain was Malofou Solomona.

To select this team, a trial match was held at Walker Park, Point Chevalier, Auckland, New Zealand. The key selector was Kiwi great Ken Stirling with players from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch competing for a position in the team.

The official Western Samoa Rugby League squad was announced at the Maota Samoa in Karangahape Road, Auckland.

The team included four local players from Western Samoa who were Anitelea Aiolupotea, To’o Vaega, Filitoga Lameta and Lomitusi Sasi.

Western Samoa won its first Pacific Cup game against Tokelau winning 34 – 12.

Then followed the game known as the “Bloodbath in the Jungle” against Tonga where players from both teams sustained brutal injuries and Tonga eventually won the battle 34-16.

Western Samoa went back to basics to face their next opponent, the Cook Islands and came away with a convincing win 48-0.

Samoa then moved on to the semi-finals to again face Tonga. The game was fast, again brutal but Western Samoa handed Tonga a 46 – 4 thrashing to make way to face the NZ Maoris in the finals.

The NZ Maoris were unbeaten all tournament with the calibre of Gary Mercer, Dave Watson, Adrian Shelford, Mike Kuiti, Mark Horo, Tawera Nikau and captain Sam Stewart who all went on to represent the Kiwis.

Western Samoa were competitive but the NZ Maoris emerged the outright victors on the day winning the Pacific Cup final 23-6.

1990 Western Samoa Rugby League Pacific Cup Champions – held in Tonga
Bottom L-R: Petaia Petaia, Pacific Cup, Alex “beep beep” Tupou
Front Row L-R: Steve Kaiser, Jason Chang, Michael “tyson” Annandale, Tony “chief” Tuimavave, Se’e “tiny” Solomona, Sopo, Dave “toeina” Solomona, Swanny Stowers
Middle Row L-R: John KP Toleafoa, Vincent “tupu” Winterstein, Vaeuga “mash potatoe” Afoa, Kennedy “ki” Taogaga, Petelo, Bobby Tuimavave, Hugo Wulf, Steve Stowers
Back Row L-R: Joe Kaiser, Michael “cindy” Setefano, Tony Tatupu, Joe Suafua, Alby “rowdy” Atkinson.

The Pacific Cup experience motivated the Western Samoa Rugby League to develop the national team.

WSRL had started a movement allowing Samoan players to represent their families and heritage.

A member of that team who later coached the Samoan side, Steve Kaiser wrote of the occasion: “The foresight of Swanny & Lyndsay Stowers to form WSRL and recognize a legal entity for Samoa, will forever be remembered. Samoa Mo Samoa.”

There are many stories of Swanny and Lyndsay Stowers’ contribution to Samoa rugby league. Their passion went beyond risking their own home.

They sold half of their Greenhithe property to a developer builder to underwrite the funds needed to take players to Fiji for the 1994 Pacific Cup. There were many other occasions though that they assisted players in Samoan teams as had occurred in 1988 and 1990 with players falling short of funds themselves.

“If it wasn’t for Swanny and Lyndsay Stowers registering Western Samoa Rugby League as a legal entity, we wouldn’t be celebrating 30 years of Samoa rugby league today,” said Steve Kaiser.

EDITOR’s NOTE: This article was first published in the Souvenir Programme of the 30th Anniversary of Samoa Rugby League in 2016, with the first ever full Rugby League International test match in Samoa against Fiji Bati at Apia Park, 8 October 2016.