Rugby League Samoa has knocked back an offer from the Johns brothers to coach the national team, at least for now.
Andrew Johns – the eighth rugby league Immortal – and his brother Matthew have repeatedly offered to coach Toa Samoa for free, driven by a desire to turn the island nation into a World Cup title contender.
The push is inspired by the heroics of Tonga in recent years. The tier two nation shocked New Zealand by beating them at the 2017 World Cup – at which they fell one game short of the final – and then beat Australia for the first time at the Oceania Cup in 2018.
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The Johns brothers believe with the right guidance, Samoa can follow in the footsteps of Tonga to become more than competitive against the tier one teams – Australia, New Zealand, and England.
“Myself and Matthew have put our hands up to coach Samoa. We will do it for nothing, and we’ve said we will do it for nothing,” Johns told Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour in March.
“We’re both big believers in the Polynesian nations.”
But it seems that offer has been rejected for the time being.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Matt Parish will continue as head coach of Toa Samoa for at least this year.
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Samoa has a game against the Cook Islands on June 25, and then the Rugby League World Cup in England in October.
Parish will be joined by assistant coaches Andrew Webster, Richard Agar, and Geoff Toovey. Samoa also announced several other staff appointments, but the Johns brothers will not be involved.
“Recent media commentary has speculated on the interest in coaching Toa Samoa by several individuals but, let me be clear, as of now, we have not sought or received any official interest or approaches from any of these parties,” Rugby League Samoa president Tagaloa Faafouina Su’a said.
“We are confident in the players and staff we have and urge our nation and our fans to continue to show your support and offer your prayers.”
Andrew Johns has this season returned to the Knights in a consultancy role, while continuing his work with Wide World of Sports.
Matthew Johns works for Fox Sports and is not currently a member of staff for any NRL club.
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