St George Illawarra coach Steve Price has relinquished his role in charge of Samoa for the World Cup and will be replaced by NSW and Parramatta assistant Matt Parish.Rugby League Samoa president Tagaloa Faafouina Su'a said the workload required for Price to "perform each facet of coaching with as much diligence and professionalism as possible" was too great and he had stood down by " mutual agreement" for the end-of-season tournament.
"RLS would like to thank Steve Price for not only his guidance and hard work as Toa coach, but also for his appreciation and embracement of Samoan culture," he said.
"Rugby League Samoa operates on faith and trust and we embrace whatever resources we have from time to time given our circumstances. We thank Pricey for his sacrifice and commitment to our team in the past years and again wish him well with his career."
Su'a said Parish's appointment brings a wealth of experience to the Toa Samoa coaching ranks.
"As current assistant coach to the NSW Blues and Parramatta Eels, Parish's experience in working with a large number of players at an elite level is highly regarded," he said."We don't expect Matty to do miracles but we believe he will be a great asset to bring benefits to our team as we are on the lookout for accomplishments."Parish said he was looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to work with the wealth of talent available to Samoa at the World Cup, which includes Steve Matai, Roy Asotasi, Jeff Lima, Reni Maitua and Carlos Tuimavave.
“I feel both honoured and priviledged to have been appointed as the head coach of Toa Samoa,” Parrish said.
“Players of Samoan descent have a rich history in the game of rugby league and that talent pool continues to grow into the future. I hope that through my experience working in the NRL, State of Origin and with the Indigenous All Stars, I can help convert that unquestionable talent into results at the World Cup.”
Samoa begin their World Cup campaign against defending champions New Zealand at Warrington on October 27 and are also in the same pool as Papua New Guinea and France.
Illawara Mercury