State of the nation: Samoa

Richard Cowley - 23/1/2012

Samoa have always been one of those rugby league nations where news has been hard to come by at the best of times. At international level Samoa have the advantage of calling on heritage based players plying their trade in the NRL and Super League. The big question mark has always been around progress being made in Samoa itself.

Well as many nations including Samoa slowly build towards the 2013 Rugby league World Cup. Many will be happy to hear Rugby League in Samoa is alive and well!

In late November 2011 a rugby league development officer was deployed to Samoa as part of a joint project between Australian Youth Ambassadors Program (AYAD) and the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) to promote rugby league in Samoa.

In December 2011 a free rugby league clinic for kids called the "EAT WELL PLAY WELL STAY WELL CLINIC" attracted 150 participants during the day.

The HYUNDAI XMAS IN THE PARK 9's competition also took place in December. Ten teams entered the competition which saw the final played out between Marist Saints and Leleua Bulldogs. The Saints were the overall winners of the day winning the final 16-10. The 9's competition concluded the season for 2011.

In 2012 Rugby League activity in Samoa is about to move to a new level.

The domestic rugby league competition is looking to expand to 12 teams in 2012 (10 teams participated in 2011 season). The season starts in mid-March and will run for approximately 4 months. There are currently around 250 rugby league players in Samoa. This is also set to increase as other initiatives start to expand playing numbers at junior level.

Two major schoolboy tournaments have already been organised for 2012 with 8 schools competing in the 10 -12 year old category and 8 schools competing in the 14 - 16 year old category. On top of this an Under 16 Rugby League High Performance Unit is scheduled to be up and running by May.

Samoa have a tour match scheduled against NSW country in mid July to coincide with Samoa's 50 year independence Anniversary. Samoa Rugby League are also looking to play a number of junior test matches and touring games in 2012. This all fits in with Samoa Rugby League's plan to encourage more clubs (especially juniors) from Australia to come and tour Samoa to play Rugby League against the local talent.

With all this rugby league activity planned for Samoa, rugby league news should be a bit more free flowing in 2012.