Samoa coach Ben Gardiner believes the NRL should consider reinstating the mid year Test weekend to give the likes of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji to gain more international experience.
The mid year Tests were scrapped in 2023 in favour of the inaugural Pacific Championships, but Gardiner says he’d like to again see Samoa given a chance to play mid-season.
“For us, we need test matches,” Gardiner said in his post match press conference after Samoa’s 50-0 loss to New Zealand in Auckland.
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“Whatever the NRL decides to do, they decide to do as I don’t make those decisions but from our point of view we want to play Test matches.
“We’ve had an opportunity for a number of our guys to play two Test matches now, well we need more of those so we can build up that experience so when we go up against a side like Australia or New Zealand who have guys with 15-20 Test matches under their belt, that’s how we start to compete with those teams.”
As it stands, Samoa won’t play their next Test match for another 12 months. When asked if it felt crazy that it be so long between Tests, Gardiner responded with a laugh, “For sure”.
“Everybody has a laugh about it but that’s the reality of it… New Zealand and Australia have dealt with the same thing so it’s no different for anyone, it’s just a matter of being able to come together, build on experience and come better next time and that’s what we plan to do.”
With the 2025 Rugby League World Cup pushed back a year and still up for grabs after France pulled out of hosting, there is likely to be a bid from a group of Pacific Island countries, including Samoa, to hold the event.
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Gardiner said if that was the case, “it would mean everything to the Samoan people.”
“You saw the support we got here in Auckland, imagine taking that game to Samoa and the support we’d get there.
“We’ve had a lot of support all week from different people in different places all over the world
“There’s a big following for the Toa Samoa team so to be able to take a game to home, well yeah, it could be anything couldn’t it.”
A week after handing in a gutsy performance in a 38-12 loss to Australia, Samoa were thoroughly outplayed by the Kiwis.
Gardiner, who also works as an assistant coach under Ivan Cleary at Penrith, said there were some positives to take out of the last two weeks, but ultimately, they were simply outplayed.
“It took nothing out of the team any more than any other football game. We travelled over here with good intent, we trained well,” he said.
“We started well, but tonight we just couldn’t go with the other team.”
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