Matt Parish


Matt Parish is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Samoa national rugby league team.

Playing career

Parish played in 78 first-grade matches for the Balmain Tigers between 1988 and 1993. He was tough, durable utility player who was well respected throughout the club before injuries in 1993 restricted him to just 5 games
In 1994 & 95 Parish began his successful Coaching Career by Captain Coaching battlers Gosford Townies to semi Finals before doing the same with Macquarie Scorpions in the 1996 Newcastle competition. In 1997 he moved to the Then Entrance Tigers where he had immediate success and continued to Coach there until 2006 before moving to the North Queensland Cowboys

Coaching career

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, getting to within 13 points of the lead with 15 minutes to go in the match. However, the 'Kiwis' scored one more try to seal the match. The Samoans won their next two games against the Kumuls and the French, to secure their spot in the quarterfinal where they took on Pacific rivals Fiji. They lost, 22-4, ending their World Cup campaign.

Samoa record

OpponentPlayedWonDrewLostWin Ratio
200200.00
1100100.00
310233.33
200200.00
300300.00
1100100.00
101000.00
320166.67
TOTAL16511031.25

Personal life