The Manu Samoa dilemma

Sports

By Chris Peteru

As Manu Samoa prepares to lock horns on its 12-game tour of Scotland and England, the 30 play ers are keenly aware that a lot more is on the line than just knocking over the oppo sition.

Following on from a strong quarter final performance at this years World Cup the Northern Hemisphere tour should have been the icing on goal posts for the men in

royal blue.

Instead, the Bryan Williams-coached team are mindful that failure to perform well in the coming weeks could deliver a terminal drop-kick to the game back home.

For rugby mad Samoans, who smash their television sets when the team loses and fire 12-gauge shotguns in the air when they win, the notion that rugby union has reached a watershed is hard to accept.

The main reason behind the commotion has been the arrival this year of the Rupert

Murdoch-bankrolled Super League; plus

the steady exodus of union players who have taken up contracts to play rugby league.

Like other Pacific nations, rugby league in Western Samoa since the 1980 s has been a minority sport played mainly by union players at the end of their season.

However, with frightening efficiency, a minimum amount of fanfare, and about SUS 100,000 of Murdoch money over the next five years, the Western Samoa League Association (WSRLA), has moved at warp speed to establish itself here as a creditable alternative to what the Western Samoa Rugby Football Union (WSRFU) has to

offer players.

The swiftness with which rugby league administrators have set up development programmes for players, coaches and ref

erees at college level and in urban and rural

areas temporarily stunned their union counterparts.

“When we met to discuss a response to these (league) moves no one said anything for a while,” said a union official.

A serious shortage of money to keep their dwindling number of top internation als in the fold has compounded the situa tion.

Already four World Cup players, notably loose forward Shem Tatupu (Wigan) and fullback Mike Umaga (Halifax), are now playing their rookie season in the English rugby league first division.

Against the grinding donkey-style for ward play British rugby players have patented, Tatupus flair and expressiveness

will be missed.

Five other first string players, Too Vaega, Brian Lima and George Harder in the backs, along with loose forwards Junior Paramore and captain Pat Lam, were all considering league offers to

Australian and British clubs.

Only personal approaches by Williams

bought a committee by each of them to take part in the current tour.

“We can’t just sit around on our hands and do nothing about it. There has been a lot of hard work that has gone into build ing the Manu Samoa over the last eight or 10 years, and to see it go down the drain would be tragic for the whole of Samoa.” he said.

Former All Black captain David Kirk stated publicly that with SUSSSOm dollars to share between them, tri-series partici pants Australia, New Zealand and South Africa could not make room for the Samoans.

He speculated that Manu Samoa’s

inclusion could have meant too many stars and less money to go round for them.

Up until now Manu Samoa’s major sponsor has been Vailima Breweries who are providing the WSRFU $U5295,000 in cash, playing gear and clothing in a three year deal that began in 1994.

Despite that being the biggest contract in Samoan sporting history it comes out as small beer compared to the SUS 2 million coach Williams believes is needed to pay the top players each season.

While almost playing for free has been the situation Manu players have accepted in the past, a slam-dunk British tour is needed that would attract big buck spon sors with open cheque books.

The players themselves realise that unless the WSRFU can come up with plen ty of hard currency, lucrative offers over seas may wilt their enthusiasm to being racked and crash tackled for the glory of ones country.

Test prop George Latu says “that unless the WSRFU can play our own players many of the New Zealand based players, (20 in the present squad) will lose interest in representing the Manu Samoa again”.

Although beating the Scots and English

in the Tests is the main goal winning has to be done in a way that will have sponsors beating a path to the team bus when the final whistle blows and supporters every where screaming for more.

That might not be easy.

England was comfortable 44-22 win ners when the sides clashed in a World Cup pool game. Samoans inflicted Scotland’s sole loss on their 93 Pacific tour 28-11 at Apia Park.

Peter Fatialofa’s recall as vice-captain will be needed to fire up the team that

faces a tough itinerary.

While some of the forwards looked to

have passed their ‘Best-before-sell-by’

date, the backs feature many untried com binations that in that zany Polynesian way can either run rings around their opponents or each other all afternoon.

After taking the side through two World Cup campaigns retired coach and former Manu Samoa fullback Peter Schuster says this tour is of crucial importance to the future of the game in the island state.

“It’s very important that we lift our per formance and keep it consistent to attract sponsorship. The bottom line is the money thing,” he said.

“In the final analysis, money talks, bullshit runs marathons.” ■

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