Matt Parish Rugby player
For the lawyer and scholar of international relations see Matthew Parish.Matt Parish is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Samoa national rugby league team.Parish played in 55 first-grade matches for the Balmain Tigers between 1988 and 1993. He moved into coaching, and served as assistant coach of the North Queensland Cowboys and the New South Wales State of Origin team.He was appointed as the head coach of English Super League club the Salford City Reds in July 2011. He coached the side for six matches, winning one, before resigning in November 2011, citing "personal reasons". The Manchester Evening News reported that he had fallen out with the club's administration, having been critical of a number of aspects of the club's management. Shortly after leaving Salford, he returned to Australia and was appointed an assistant coach of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, then the reigning National Rugby League premiers.In 2013, he was appointed as head coach of Samoa. He coached the Samoans to a quarter-final appearance in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. Earlier in the Tournament Samoa faced New Zealand. The Samoans were down 36-4 in the second half, until the Samoans gave 'the Kiwis' a scare scoring 20 consecutive points, leaving the Samoans within 13 points of taking the lead with 15 minutes to go in the match. Unfortunately 'the Kiwis' would score one more try to seal the match. This game was one of the best games in the World Cup. The Samoans would win their next two games against the Kumuls and the French, to secure their spot in the quarter-final where they'd take on firece pacific-rivals Fiji. They would lose the match by 22-4 ending a successful World Cup campaign.