World Footy News

In 1998 a meeting was held in the Samoan capital of Apia with the aim of establishing Australian football in the islands. The meeting saw the formation of the Samoan Australian Rules Football Association (SARFA).

Led by Scott Reid, the group staged an exhibition match during the major Samoan cultural festival held each September. Accompanied by live commentary (in Samoan) supplied by Misa Sofara, the match, played between Lefifi Junior High School and Robert Louis Stevenson School, was umpired by two ANZ bank employees.

By November 1998 the code had spread sufficiently for an inaugural season to be played under the banner of the Vailima Six-Shooters' Championship. The first team formed was the Fasito'o-uta Tigers, followed by the Vaiala Cats, Maagiagi Lupe, Line Up Magpies, Apia Barracudas and SARFA Swans.

Footy is known in Samoa as Samoa Rules as the rules have been modified to suit local conditions. Amended rules were necessary as the grounds available are somewhat smaller than those in Australia. For a start, Samoa Rules teams comprise 15 players rather than 18 - 5 forwards, 5 backs and 5 "on-ballers". A centre line is marked on the pitch and the forwards can only operate in their attacking half, the backs in their defensive half. The 5 on-ballers can go anywhere on the field. Five other players sit on the interchange bench. To encourage the kicking game, players are permitted to bounce the ball only once while running.

In February 1999 eight schools contested a Lightning Carnival. The winners, Samoa College, were presented with the Australian High Commission trophy.

Just three month's later Samoa's national team, the Bulldogs, played their first international matches at the Arafura Games in Darwin. Their uniforms were supplied by the Western Bulldogs, who had also sent over Steve Kretiuk and Brad Johnson to conduct training clinics earlier in the year.

Samoa won the bronze medal and were unlucky not to play off for the gold medal against Papua New Guinea.

In August 1999 an eight team secondary school competition kicked off, the Pepsi Schools Samoa Australian Rules Championship. The 1999 senior competition kicked off with 6 teams: Fasito'o-uta Tigers, Fasito'o-uta Lions, Tanugamanono Demons, Town Area Hawks, Maagiagi Lupe and the Vaimoso Giants.

Although on a surfing holiday Dermott Brereton was kind enough to conduct a training session of the Tanugamanono Demons in November 1999.

More international matches were played in 2000. An under-16 team represented Samoa at the Jim Stynes Trophy in Canberra in June and in November the Australian Defence Force team visited, playing two matches against the Fasito'o-uta Tigers and the Premier's 22.

In 2000 two Samoans played for Queanbeyan in the ACTAFL in Canberra. The following year saw nine Samoans turn out for Doveton in the Southern Football League in Melbourne.

Many of the All Blacks have been of Samoan descent. The 100,000 Samoans living in New Zealand constitute that country's third largest population. New Zealanders have realised for many years that Samoans are very, very good at rugby. Why can't they be very, very good at footy?