Paul Kent: Can Sonny Bill Williams, Matty and Andrew Johns save Samoa national team

It could be the biggest coup in international rugby league since Jason Taumalolo defected to Tonga, but the super team save a national side crippled by internal politics?

The temptation, and there is always temptation in rugby league, might be too hard to resist.

It usually is in this game.

With a subtle nod of the head on Sunday night Matthew Johns confirmed an interest to coach Samoa at the World Cup later this year with his brother, Andrew, as co-coach, who also knows a thing or two about how to play the game.

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The upside is tremendous for the Samoan Rugby League, but it will take a locksmith’s talent to unpick the internal politics that cripple the tiny pacific nation and make it happen.

This, unfortunately, is also common to rugby league.

The Johns brothers have long established themselves as being among the greater intellects in the game.

Andrew and Matthew Johns have shaped a number of NRL teams’ tactics.

Andrew is an Immortal, widely regarded as the first player whom the coach could feed the game plan into and be sure it would be carried out, to the letter, once on the field.

Add a touch of genius, which came by the bucketload in his instance, and Johns was the dominant player of his era.

Matthew has created a reputation as perhaps the best spine coach in the country.

The path to his door has worn down under the soles of Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Harry Grant, Greg Inglis, Cameron Munster, Wade Graham, Luke Keary and many others.

He helped shape Melbourne’s attack more than once as the game evolved.

Already they are in talks with Knights general manager of football Danny Buderus about coaching the halves at Newcastle.

This is a sign of their frustration at their old club.

Along with Buderus, former head coach David Waite and the mercurial Alan Bell, they plan to get in a room and stay there until they come up with a strategy to improve the halves.

Under pressure Samoa coach Matt Parish Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

They might be there until summer.

On top of this, in the background the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Jarome Luai, Dylan Brown, Brian To’o and many others have indicated they are prepared to play for Samoa — so long as there is a new coach holding the whistle.

The current Samoan coach is Matt Parish, a former player with broad experience as an assistant coach around the game, right up to working alongside Laurie Daley in the NSW Blues camp.

Parish has failed to achieve cut through, though. There is a strong feeling within the squad that he lacks the gravitas to be a national coach.

In February this year news emerged that 34 past and present Samoan players, including Anthony Milford, Josh Papalii, Joey Lailua and Luai petitioned Samoan Prime Minister Tuiaepa Sailele Malielegaoi to intervene and sack Parish, citing a lack of professionalism.

Parish dismissed the criticism, claiming the players had no idea of the petition’s contents, and that they were coerced into signing it, and the Prime Minister agreed.

Penrith pair Jarome Luai and Brian To'o have indicated they want to play international rugby league for Samoa. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

The shift in the players’ thinking began with the great strides they saw being made by Tonga in recent seasons, capped by a Test victory over Australia after several senior players such as Andrew Fifita and Jason Taumalolo committed their Test careers to the red Tongan jersey.

If anything was going to spark Samoa into action, it would be the success of Tonga.

The perceived lack of professionalism is the issue at Samoa, and where it starts, and whose fault it is, is enough to bring on several migraines.

None of this has anything to do with the Johns brothers but it highlights the problems the Samoan Rugby League face as well as the extraordinary optimism the Johns brothers bring to the job.

It began in the hallways of Channel 9 where Andrew Johns bumped into Sonny Bill Williams and they got to talking footy.

Sonny Bill Williams wants to help build Samoan rugby league. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Williams is of Samoan heritage and Johns is of a rugby league heritage.

There is little about the game that does not interest him and the potential of Samoa, with more than 80 eligible players in the NRL and with a new-found commitment, excited him.

The wonder now is whether the Samoan Rugby League will listen.

The Samoan Rugby League can occasionally be heard complaining about the lack of help offered its way as a smaller pacific nation.

Now, help is being offered and so far they appear slow to accept it.

If the tiny nation is going to stand up for itself and make a dent on the international scene, including Tonga, what better time than a World Cup year.

Originally published as Paul Kent: Can Sonny Bill Williams, Matty and Andrew Johns save Samoa national team