Constant Gardiner: Samoa’s field of dreams in bloom
Joel Gould |
Samoa coach Ben Gardiner’s favourite film is Field of Dreams, and his flowering team is blooming in fertile soil ahead of the Pacific Championships.
Actor Kevin Costner made the “build it and they will come” catch-cry famous in that inspirational movie.
Payne Haas has noted the rock-solid edifice that Samoa has built, and he has just “arrived” after pledging his international allegiance on Sunday to Toa Samoa.
Who knows, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui could be next.
When Haas posted on social media about his decision to represent the Samoan side of his heritage, Tabuai-Fidow responded with “strong” and “fire” emojis.
Gardiner’s view is that the players will make their international allegiance decisions organically when the time is right, confident that the family, spiritual, cultural and high-performance foundations the program is built upon will be a magnet.
He said established leaders in the team such as Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton and Jarome Luai were “very excited” about the Haas decision.
“I just happen to be the one facilitating what is going on and talking about it, but to the players’ credit they have played a big part in guys like Payne, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Jeremiah Nanai joining us,” Gardiner told AAP.
“The Samoan players have been the ones talking about our camps and what we are doing. They are the ones bringing the players together.
“They build the unity and at the end of the day we represent unity in the nation of Samoa. What we are looking to do is bring everyone together to give us the opportunity to be at our best.”
The Pacific Championships in October, when Samoa play New Zealand in Auckland and Tonga in Brisbane, are a stepping stone to the World Cup in 2026 to be hosted by Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Samoa has one goal, and that is to win the World Cup.
“It has been a three-year journey so far,” Gardiner said
“Samoa made the last World Cup final, but the boys were disappointed in the outcome of the game and how they performed. I then came on board and spoke to the players about what they wanted to achieve.
“The goal was, and is, to get to the World Cup final again but to come first, not second, to bridge that gap that there has been a process of bringing players together earlier so they can build connections both on and off the field.”
Gardiner, like Costner in the film, is now reaping the rewards as his field of dreams continues to flourish.
“I’ve said a few times to a number of people that if you build it, they will come, and we’ve been able to put our camps forward to show players that we mean business across all facets,” Gardiner said.
“It’s about rugby league and high performance first of all, but also attaching that to culture and spirit which is part of the Samoan culture.
“We’ve been able to add that component to our camps, and that has brought players of Payne’s quality and other players that have joined us over the years. It’s pretty exciting to have him here with us.”
AAP
