https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1013772449108648
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When I heard, after they finally arrived home, about the incredibly shabby treatment of the Fiji GRR team who came to Perth and played against our blokes just as the pandemic hit, I had a very hollow almost shameful feeling. I don't know who among the powers that be or were, knew at the time or who is ultimately responsible for that but that was symbolic of the way they have been treated. Would not happen to any of the "big" teams - no wonder they are aggrieved.
For those who don't know, it took them 3 months to get home. Most of that time was in lock down or quarantine in dormitory bunks in NZ. I can imagine there would have been a lot of noise made around here had we been aware of it. One of the great things about this board - people elsewhere notice. Even if things are pretty quiet these days.
Wasn't that the Manuma Samoan team the Force played just before the doors slammed shut?
My understanding was that it was simply circumstances, and even a case of swings and roundabouts. Samoa made them quarantine in NZ before flying home, then locked the doors before they finished it. Then they got caught up in NZ's level 4 lockdown, so stayed where they were with the advantage that they could continue to train as a team despite the NZ restrictions saying individual exercise. Once that was over and it was obvious there wasn't going to be any rugby, the NZ based players went home but the Samoan based players remained in the training camp until their country opened back up. Even then, when they got home they got stuck with another two weeks iso!
Yes Samoa. Old fart brain slip there. It was 104 days all up. They didn't stay in a training camp. It was a church compound where grown men had to stay in bunk beds in one room with no privacy for three months. The players organized gym gear themslves.
Yes it's been a strange year and yes the Samoan govt shut the borders. The point remains, would any Rugby team in a pro comp have to go through that? Or would someone in authority find more decent digs? Bloody disgrace.
Agree on the digs, but it was the same place they did the two week training camp at on the way out to Perth. As they noted themselves, tough but they could at least train as a squad. Better accommodation, they would have been completely isolated in a foreign country, even from each other.