Samoan national Australian rules football team
Encyclopedia
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
in the team sport
Team sport
A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...
of Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
. The team is selected from the best Samoan born players, who are currently mostly players from the Samoa Australian Rules Football Association.
Samoa debuted internationally at the Arafura Games
Arafura Games
The Arafura Games is a Multi-sport event held every 2 years in the Australian city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It is an international event which draws its competitors from around the world. First held in 1991, the most recent Games, held in 2009, involved over 30 nations and over 3,000...
in 1999, where the team won the Bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
.
Between 1999 and 2002, Samoa played the occasional test match against other countries, most of them with loose eligility rules, allowing Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
based Samoan players to participate.
Samoa competed against Nauru in 2001 during Nauru's tour of Australia. Among the Samoan representatives was a young Aaron Edwards
Aaron Edwards
Aaron Edwards is an Australian rules footballer for the North Melbourne Football Club.-Early life:Edwards was born in Samoa to a Samoan mother and New Zealander father. He migrated with his family to Australia at the age of two and played rugby union until the age of 13...
.
Samoa sent a team to the inaugural 2002 Australian Football International Cup
Australian Football International Cup
The Australian Football International Cup is an international sport competition in Australian rules football...
. The International Cup nation team was nicknamed the "Bulldogs" and wore the guernsey of the Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
(who had donated the jumpers) which happen to be the same colours as the Flag of Samoa
Flag of Samoa
The flag of Samoa was adopted on February 24, 1949. It consists of a red field with a blue rectangle in the canton. The blue rectangle bears the Southern Cross Constellation: four large white stars and one smaller star.-Historical flags:...
. Samoa finished 7th overall in the cup.
In 2004, Samoa fielded a side in the Australian Football Multicultural Cup
Australian Football Multicultural Cup
The Australian Football Multicultural Cup was an amateur Australian rules football competition featuring teams drawn from melbourne's migrant communities...
and made it all the way through to the Grand Final, but were solidly defeated by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
A much improved Samoa attended the 2005 International Cup
2005 Australian Football International Cup
The 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held....
, finishing in 5th position overall. Samoan players Fia Tootoo
Fia Tootoo
-Playing career:He was selected on the International Cup All-Star team in 2002, 2005 & 2008. He won the Best & Fairest Award in 2002, 2005 and narrowly missed out on the Award in 2008...
and Mateta Kirisome were selected in the International Cup All-Star team. Among the Samoan squad were future rugby internationals Mikaele Pesamino
Mikaele Pesamino
Mikaele Pesamino is a rugby union player in the Samoa Sevens team. He is one of the highest point scorers in the 2009–2010 IRB Sevens World Series.Pesamino was born in Vailele on the island of Upolu in Samoa....
and Rambo Tavana.
The team appeared at the 2008 International Cup
2008 Australian Football International Cup
The 2008 Australian Football International Cup was the third time the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition, has been contested....
, but their nickname was changed to the "Kangaroos" and they now wear a similar strip to the North Melbourne Football Club
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
. The affiliation with the Kangaroos came through the rise of Aaron Edwards in AFL's ranks, becoming a power forward and taking one of the best marks of the year for the Kangaroos in the 2007 AFL Finals Series
2007 AFL season
The 2007 AFL Season was the 111th season of the Australian Football League, the highest-level professional Australian rules football league in Australia...
. The Samoan-born North Melbourne star attended most of the games involving Samoa in person during the 2008 cup, although he was not allowed to represent Samoa under the AFL International Cup criteria. While Samoa began the cup with a strong win over India, Samoa's 2008 cup hopes were dashed after a drubbing at the hands of the Japan Samurai before being solidly defeated by the New Zealand Falcons
New Zealand national Australian rules football team
The New Zealand national Australian rules football team nicknamed the Falcons, is the national team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The team is selected from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the New Zealand AFL. New Zealand-born...
.
The team performs the Siva tau
Siva tau
The Manu Siva Tau is a Samoan war dance, performed by the Samoa's sporting teams before each match.The national rugby union team used to perform the traditional 'Ma'ulu'ulu Moa' on tour...
(war dance) before each game.
International Cup
- 20022002 Australian Football International CupThe 2002 Australian Football International Cup was the inaugural international Australian rules football tournament held in Melbourne, Australia in 2002....
: 7th - 20052005 Australian Football International CupThe 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held....
: 5th - 20082008 Australian Football International CupThe 2008 Australian Football International Cup was the third time the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition, has been contested....
: 10th - 20112011 Australian Football International CupThe 2011 Australian Football International Cup is the fourth edition of the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition run by the Australian Football League....
: Did not compete
Arafura Games
- 1995: Did not compete
- 1997: Did not compete
- 1999: 3rd
- 2001: Did not compete