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A bit of a bizarre situation going on at the moment in Australia.  Matthew Johns, on his RL talk show, came out and said he would like to take over as coach of Samoa, together with his brother Andrew and SBW.  Samoan Rugby League since came out and said they had not been contacted by them nor received any expression of interest and also reiterated their support for their current coach, Matt Parish. (story below)

Since then, about 90% of comments I am seeing online and on social media, are from fans saying things to the effect of:  Samoa must be crazy/corrupt to say no to these guys.  What is the matter with them?  Get rid of Parish! etc....

To me the whole thing seems well out of order.  As far as I know, Matty Johns (who I am a big fan of, I might add) has never had any involvement with Samoa Rugby League and I doubt he has any personal ties to the country itself.  It seems to me, he has woken up one day and said:  I would like to coach them!  Basically using his profile to "blackmail" Samoa into ditching the bloke that has been coaching them since 2013.  I cannot recall something like this ever happening.  I just hope, whatever happens, the whole matter is sorted in a civil manner and that no harm is done to Samoan Rugby League.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-news-samoa-coach-matty-and-andrew-johns-sonny-bill-williams-matt-parish-international-rugby-league/news-story/be2665d1ded8fc8d69d18c4931019234

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“ i want to be respectful because they do have a coach “ . Oh the irony , while trying to throw the bloke under a bus .  “And we have full time jobs so i dont know how it work”.  Quite strange really 

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Putting aside the way it is unfolding, Samoa could do worse that having Johns as coach, he is one of the finest tactical minds our sport has seen.

Oh, and Matthew could go along as well.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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I never really get why Parish seems untouchable as Samoa coach. They often arrive at tournaments in terrible shape and rarely play well as a team. They have certainly underperformed compared to the other PI nations considering some of the players they have had at their disposal. 

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2 minutes ago, Damien said:

I never really get why Parish seems untouchable as Samoa coach. They often arrive at tournaments in terrible shape and rarely play well as a team. They have certainly underperformed compared to the other PI nations considering some of the players they have had at their disposal. 

Music to England fans’ ears. 

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It is a bit odd, but great to have an international story that isn't 'tournament cancelled' or 'Shane from Wollongong has found an English grandmother'.

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I can confirm 30+ less sales for Scotland vs Italy at Workington, after this afternoons test purchase for the Tonga match, £7.50 is extremely reasonable, however a £2.50 'delivery' fee for a walk in purchase is beyond taking the mickey, good luck with that, it's cheaper on the telly.

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I am not saying Parish is a super coach.  But as I say, they have gone about it in the most bizarre way possible.  If you are genuinely interested in helping, have a (quiet) word to management about it and see what the response is.  I think a media ambush is not the right way to go about it.

Also, personally, I do not buy into this theory that if the Johns brothers and SBW are on board, it will magically attract new players to the Samoan team.  It won't.  Anyone who wants to play for Samoa, already is.

Josh Papalii for example, his stance (I believe) would remain the same.  If he is good enough for Kangaroos selection, he will stay there.  If not, will opt back to playing for Samoa.

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4 hours ago, langpark said:

Also, personally, I do not buy into this theory that if the Johns brothers and SBW are on board, it will magically attract new players to the Samoan team.  It won't.  Anyone who wants to play for Samoa, already is.

So there was a letter signed by Samoan players asking the Samoan board to remove Parish because they felt they couldnt succeed under him. There is also talk that RTS would play for Samoa as well as a host of others if they change the coach. 

 

What the Johns Brothers and SBW bring are two good football minds and a guy passionate about the nation because his father is Samoan as well as actual media coverage from Ch 9 (A Johns SBW) and Fox (M Johns) which before this story has been minimal.

 

So what has happened now it seems is the Johns Brothers and SBW have been invited to assist in order to encourage players to make themselves available.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/125031676/samoa-coach-to-ask-sonny-bill-williams-for-help-with-rugby-league-world-cup-campaign

https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/05/03/taumalolo-like-the-impact-of-johns-brothers-sbws-samoa-coaching-dream/

 

  

Edited by B rad
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Matty Johns using the exact same tactics that saw Anthony Seibold forced out of Brisbane and the coaching job given to the inept Kevin Walters. 

None the trio involved have ever coached, beyond a few skills sessions with individual players, and as much as I think Parrish is a poor coach there's no evidence whatsoever that any of them would do a better job. The public reaction is just the usual 'good player = good coach' nonsense.

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"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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7 hours ago, Damien said:

I never really get why Parish seems untouchable as Samoa coach. They often arrive at tournaments in terrible shape and rarely play well as a team. They have certainly underperformed compared to the other PI nations considering some of the players they have had at their disposal. 

Money??

who pays his salary?

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3 hours ago, B rad said:

So there was a letter signed by Samoan players asking the Samoan board to remove Parish because they felt they couldnt succeed under him. There is also talk that RTS would play for Samoa as well as a host of others if they change the coach. 

 

What the Johns Brothers and SBW bring are two good football minds and a guy passionate about the nation because his father is Samoan as well as actual media coverage from Ch 9 (A Johns SBW) and Fox (M Johns) which before this story has been minimal.

 

So what has happened now it seems is the Johns Brothers and SBW have been invited to assist in order to encourage players to make themselves available.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/125031676/samoa-coach-to-ask-sonny-bill-williams-for-help-with-rugby-league-world-cup-campaign

https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/05/03/taumalolo-like-the-impact-of-johns-brothers-sbws-samoa-coaching-dream/

 

  

The fact several players don’t back him in his 8th year in charge of Samoa makes it bizarre he’s still in place as their coach 

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21 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

The fact several players don’t back him in his 8th year in charge of Samoa makes it bizarre he’s still in place as their coach 

It has a lot of people scratching their heads. 

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15 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

The fact several players don’t back him in his 8th year in charge of Samoa makes it bizarre he’s still in place as their coach 

Apparently there’s a load of Samoan eligible players happy to flip from Australia and Nz if parish gets the boot. They were saying on NRL 360 that parish doesn’t let the players express or celebrate their heritage, something which is really important over there. 
 

Selfishly, I hope parish stays as a strong roster of Samoan players plus the john’s brothers (love them or hate them they know what it takes to win, especially joey) and sonny Bill could  derail England’s World Cup chalkenge before it gets going at st James park. I don’t think we will get past Tonga anyway, be it in the quarter or semi, but I suppose that’s a different conversation!

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They have underachieved with Parish in charge with the end total never reaching the sum of the parts and a very unprofessional culture.

 

Moving on from him would not be a bad idea but for Matty Johns to tout for a job that is not vacant is not a very honourable thing to do.

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31 minutes ago, arcticchris said:

They have underachieved with Parish in charge with the end total never reaching the sum of the parts and a very unprofessional culture.

 

Moving on from him would not be a bad idea but for Matty Johns to tout for a job that is not vacant is not a very honourable thing to do.

Ah... honour.   That's a thing init?

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6 hours ago, John C H said:

 

Apparently there’s a load of Samoan eligible players happy to flip from Australia and Nz if parish gets the boot. They were saying on NRL 360 that parish doesn’t let the players express or celebrate their heritage, something which is really important over there. 
 

Selfishly, I hope parish stays as a strong roster of Samoan players plus the john’s brothers (love them or hate them they know what it takes to win, especially joey) and sonny Bill could  derail England’s World Cup chalkenge before it gets going at st James park. I don’t think we will get past Tonga anyway, be it in the quarter or semi, but I suppose that’s a different conversation!

As I said above, Johns is using the same playbook Walters used to get the Broncos job: get friends to publicly badmouth the incumbent, make it uncomfortable for him and his bosses, get questions asked of one or two players, and then slip into the job. Unpleasant. 

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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When Parish took over he was doing a real RL missionaries job. Samoa kind of started the Pacific revolution before Tonga came in and made it a huge thing. They almost knocked over NZ in the last minute of the game after going down to England by 6 points in 2014. They also under Parish did a good job in the mid season test vs England in 2017. From there it was downhill though with much of the squad getting fat during the RLWC 2017 and putting in disappointing performances through out the tournament.  

 

Their last game in 2019 stacked with full NRL talent they absolutely got smashed by a Fijian side with no where near the NRL experience. Thats why its so hard to understand the reason Samoa are so keen on keeping Parish when three greats of the game (well maybe two if you don't include Matty) are willing to take over for free. They all work in the media so it means coverage for the RLWC which has been lacking. They will attract some of the best players. It just seems madness. Parish's hart is in the right place with development but obviously now he is doing more damage than good and its time he moved on. 

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Right, and three men who have never coached a team anywhere in the world are going to jump in and do a great job?

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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26 minutes ago, nadera78 said:

Right, and three men who have never coached a team anywhere in the world are going to jump in and do a great job?

Better than Parish. Especially if they can attract higher class players. 

 

Remember Fatty Vautin who never coached a side before beat a very strong NSW with a team of "Neville nobodies"

 

Parish has lost the players respect. Johns x2 and SBW isn't the perfect option. A Cleary or Bellamy would be obviously preferable, but right now Parish should go. 

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1 hour ago, B rad said:

When Parish took over he was doing a real RL missionaries job. Samoa kind of started the Pacific revolution before Tonga came in and made it a huge thing. 

I understand times change, but this is another thing that annoys me. Those that got involved for the right reasons, and long before it was fashionable to do so, getting bumped aside by those that took a sudden interest and want to get on the bandwagon.

A lot of those supposed "rugby league" shows (professor, fletch & hindy etc.) have often done nothing but ridicule the international game anyway.

Anyway, it looks like talks might be progressing to get everyone involved: 

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/welcome-matt-parish-welcomes-sbw-johns-brothers-to-samoa-fold-20210505-p57p7s.html 

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2 hours ago, B rad said:

Better than Parish. Especially if they can attract higher class players. 

 

Remember Fatty Vautin who never coached a side before beat a very strong NSW with a team of "Neville nobodies"

 

Parish has lost the players respect. Johns x2 and SBW isn't the perfect option. A Cleary or Bellamy would be obviously preferable, but right now Parish should go. 

From the outside it has appeared for a long time that Parish is out of his depth. That's not the issue, it's more that everyone seems to be assuming that because Johns/SBW were great players they'll automatically be great coaches (or even just better than Parish) when there's no evidence for that at all.

As to your claim re: respect, well, we only have rumours from Johns' friends in the media for that.

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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