Matt Parish achieved history when he reached the first Rugby League World Cup Final in Samoa’s history however he had the unwanted experience of losing the final to Mal Meninga’s Australia.
After the game he confirmed he was disappointed but noted that he was very proud: “The result is disappointing, but the effort by these guys I couldn’t be prouder.”
He also admitted that they didn’t get close enough to them on the scoreboard to really get in the game: “We probably never got closer enough to put pressure on them.”
He was also unhappy with some decisions that went against Samoa including a missed 40/20 and the decision to not red card Angus Crichton after he hit Chanel Harris-Tavita with his forearm spelling the end of his night.
He said: “We didn’t get much luck or bounces of the ball. There was a clear 40/20 in the first half and then our hooker gets elbowed in the head and carted off and the referee makes a weak decision and puts him in the bin.
“Elbow to the head and he gets taken off the field, what do you think?”
He also pointed to the lack of players they had left: “We probably didn’t take our chances. We needed a lot of things to go our way, we were down to our last 19 players and players playing out of position.”
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