Life is about progress and it is good to see Samoans take strides in achieving bigger and better goals and it was very heartwarming to see one the best players on the world sevens circuit make it into Europe.

Congratulations to sevens sensation Va’afauese Apelu Maliko for signing with the French rugby union team, Stade Olympique Chambérien Rugby.

That is a move up from playing for his village side and for the national sevens side. He is now able to be on a much better salary scale and help his family even more but he should have waited and signed on with a bigger club.

Maliko picked up the “top try scorer” award with a whopping 50 tries across the 11 tournaments for 2023. He also took the DHL Impact Player award, which is given to an individual player who delivered the most impact in four main categories; carries, offloads, line breaks and tackles.

We all have seen Maliko play and he is an amazing player who deserves to play with the top teams. The club he has signed on with is in the third division of the French rugby competition. The top division in France is the Top 14 and the second division is called the Pro D2.

Muliagatele Brian Lima is right in saying that he should have waited for a better club but at the end of the day it is the decision of the individual player.

The average salary of a rugby player in the French Top 14 is about €240,000 (SAT$ 717,000) per year. Star players earn significantly more.

Academy players on junior contracts earn about €16,000 (SAT$47,600). Their first senior contract jumps to €60,000 (SAT$178,000).

Pro D2 is the lower division. The average salary is about €68,000 (SAT$202,000). Academy players must also attend university or educational courses in their first year.  Although they can play in Top 14 matches, they are not considered to be full-time professional players.

The third division salary is even lower than this.

These are average salaries but some senior players are on significantly higher amounts. However, clubs must keep their whole budget within the agreed salary cap for the league.

South African outhalf, Handre Pollard, is the highest-paid player in the Top 14. His salary is about €1,180,000 per year (SAT$3.5 million). He plays for Montpelier.

Pollard isn’t the only player to break the 1 million mark in France. The second of three players is also South African. Giant Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth reportedly earns about €1,060,000 (SAT$3.1m) per year at Toulon.

The third player is Scottish outhalf Finn Russell at Racing 92. He is reputed to earn just over €1 million (SAT$2.98m)

Racing 92 also paid big bucks to Fijian centre Virimi Vakatawa. His salary was about €920,000 (SAT$2.7m). Argentinian Nicholas Sanchez earns about €683,000 (SAT$2m) at Stade Francais.

Maliko is a superb athlete and he is someone who is going to be an asset for any team that signs him up but as the coach said he should have waited for a better team because just like the world’s best players, he too deserves to be in the top division of any nation’s competition and earn a much better salary.

Lakapi Samoa or the players association should look into deals when our best players are approached and assure that they are getting into clubs they deserve. The clubs should be worthy of players like Maliko.

Maybe he shines for his new club and will soon be approached by a bigger and better club but at the end of the day, our players should not be underselling themselves.

France is not an easy place to be. While we think that the players are going for a better future, sometimes that is not the case. There have been stories where Pacific players upon arrival realise they have been given the wrong end of the stick.

Thankfully, the Pacific Players Welfare Organisation led by a Samoan David Leo has been doing well by keeping in touch with all Pacific players. Hopefully they will keep an eye on Maliko and help him get ahead in his career.

Leo in one of his interviews with the Guardian said: “We have heard horrendous stories from players of what happens when they arrive from the islands. Say you have a young fella from Fiji. He’s told he’s on €700 a month. At home that’s a great salary, but in France we know that’s not going very far. Then he’s told: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll supply you with a room and food.’ The room is probably a mattress on the floor, almost certainly in a bad part of town. And, while he gets fed during the week, we often hear about players being unable to get food at the weekend and going to training starving.”

There is always the lure of making better money in Europe for our rugby players but their welfare is something that should be taken care of before they sign on. Maliko should have been advised on what his potential is and where deserves to play.

Let us hope that future deals for our top players are with the top clubs so they indeed can make a better future for themselves.

We wish Maliko all the best in the path he has chosen and hopefully there will be more progress to come.