Sport: Toa Samoa appoint new coach

Transcript

Rugby League Samoa says the country's World Cup preparations will not be affected by a change in coach three months out from their first game.

Parramatta Eels and New South Wales assistant Matt Parish replaces Steve Price, who opted to stand down four months into his second stint with Toa Samoa due to his commitments with the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Rugby League Samoa President Tagaloa Faafouina Su'a told Vinnie Wylie the new coach has their full confidence.

TAGALOA FAAFOUINA SU'A: Matt Parish's capabilities are unquestionable with with various international sides, not only the State of Origin level and the Indigenous, which involves a lot of cultural things, the Indigenous. We don't expect him to do miracles for the team. We all know that it will be a two-way thing, both the team and the coach to work together to achieve results. But we are certain that he's a big push and asset to our team counting down to the big event in October this year.

VINNIE WYLIE: And with this coaching change happening just a few months before the World Cup, are you worried that there might be some sort of a disruption to the preparations or are you confident that things will continue to go along smoothly?

TAGALOA FAAFOUINA SU'A: Not really, because the long leads for all teams, it's still in progress at this stage. The Rugby League World Cup Committee are still reviewing the list of the players that will be suitable for the World Cup. So the final, it will be submitted on 1 October or the exception will be the entries after the NRL before the seventh Grand Final and the Super League. But we don't see it as any disruption, we see it as challenges, with a new coach coming in, new thinking, new strategies, you know? And we'll all try to align with what we need to do for looking out for the accomplishments of our team at this year's World Cup. And we still have (Indistinct) for the World Cup just to finalise things here locally. We will have some players from New Zealand and some players from Samoa as part of the team. And they will not just go there to make up the numbers - they will be part of the team and play.

VW: Would you anticipate that Steve Price would consult with Matt, and maybe help him obviously having dealt with it the last few months, the make-up of that World Cup squad - would he be involved in that?

TFS: I am sure that with the team (Indistinct). Because we still have other members of the coaching staff from (Indistinct). So we still have those members as part of the coaching staff with Matty. There's a smooth transition. We still have the strength and condition coach and other trainers that will be under Matt Parish. So it's just a change of the coach, but most of all it's the same as the one we had earlier this year. And that will be part of the team with some local management as manager and assistant coach.