THE MAKING OF TOA SAMOA: PART 2 – Getting Rugby League off the Ground in Samoa

APIA, SAMOA – 27 DECEMBER 2022: After the Western Samoa Rugby League was formed in New Zealand in 1985 and the taste of the Pacific Cup experience in 1986, the drive was to develop the game on the ground in Samoa. One of the very first people approached to help was respected Sports Administrator, Seiuli Paul Wallwork. He was the Head of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture in Samoa at the time.
This is the second 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 2: Getting Rugby League off the Ground in Samoa

By Lance Polu

“Rugby League was then a minor sport in fact it was hardly as sport when I got involved,” he said.

The thrust was to set up a programme and set up a fairly significant organisation so Samoa can be represented internationally. Seiuli saw a chance to help another team sport develop in which only a few people in the country were interested in. He became the President of the Western Samoa Rugby League.

“It’s a pity because I thought at the time it’s the sort of sport that would be suitable for the Samoan character, the Samoan athleticism….for our structure and our ability to run hard and push hard, the physicality of our people, and perhaps more so than rugby union and I said, I’ll help any sport as long as people get involved.”

There were so many Samoans playing for New Zealand who came and introduced the sport and offered to help develop and ultimately nominate a team to represent Samoa rugby league internationally.

But Samoa wasn’t ready as there only a handful of teams playing a local competition.

“And once we were ready to introduce overseas Samoans who were big names in the sport playing for New Zealand at the time, they were the ones who really pushed it, encouraged the sport and assisted us in training and coaching and structuring of the games. I was excited because we had these Samoans overseas who were willing to come and help us.”

Then came the Pacific Cup in 1986 and 1988 which were the only international competitions Samoa was able to play at the time and Samoa played quite well and was quite prominent among the Pacific because of the expertise and support from New Zealand.

“But what we needed to do was develop a structure locally first in order for the sport to develop. Unless we do that, then this would be just a game for overseas players to come over, play and go back.”

So a competition made up of local teams, local players (who were all rugby union players and would play the game in the off season) and a competition using the same players.

Developing Rugby League at the grassroots level.

Grassroots Development
Then came Super League in 1995. “They had the resources which made a difference and really pushed rugby league in the country.”

It was during that time too that Samoa was able to send a national team to compete in the World Cup in England.

“The rugby league people in Australia and New Zealand, who were responsible for setting up the sport here, saw that the Pacific can perform very well.

We can compete at that level once we can set up a good structure and Super League was very good at that.”

Seiuli still believes a Samoan team will do well internationally. Once he saw rugby league, he saw an issue he had been fighting against for so many years. The issue of players/athletes eligibility and rules.

“Sports administrators worldwide are all the same. They try to get the best for their own country. So when they see some if their athletes moving across to represent other countries, they become rather selfish so they make up rules to stop good athletes….to stop that athlete representing Samoa. So something has to be done to clarify that,” he explains.

“If he is a Samoan and can be recognized as a Samoa through father or mother, of course anyone they can represent a country through that eligibility,” said Seiuli.

“Rugby is the same and it’s good to see that they are starting to relax the rules. They want to keep the best people for themselves.

“I think the idea of sport is to try and give the opportunity to every person to be represented regardless of where you are. That’s how I see sport.”

“I think a better sporting world would be represented by people who are the best in all the countries, despite how big or small. I think they are moving towards that and I think that should have been years ago.”

On Rugby League Samoa’s 30 year milestone.
“I’m excited about the competition and I’m excited about the growth of the sport now. We see more of rugby league in Australia and New Zealand and more Samoans are involved, we have the opening up of the rules, it’s much more enjoyable now.

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 played in Samoa against Fiji Bati at Apia Park, 8 October 2016.