Samoa’s tag rugby preparations for the 2026 Tag World Cup have received a timely boost with the arrival of two experienced Central Coast Oztag mentors from Sydney, Australia.

Jeff Coroneos, of Central Coast Oztag, who has also coached the Australian national tag team, travelled to Samoa this week with Brendan Martin or "Brenno" to help run tag clinics for local players at Tuanaimatoa. Coroneos played in the first  Tag World Cup, which was launched in 2007 at Fowlds Park, Auckland, then again at North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, in 2012.

The visit was organised by Pacers Tag Samoa as the national teams continue preparations for the Tag World Cup in Coffs Harbour, Australia, in October. Coroneos, a five-time back-to-back national champion coach who has coached young Samoan tag players on the Central Coast, said it was his first time visiting Samoa and that he was impressed by the players' talent and attitude.

 “Samoans are naturally good at it (tag), and I feel that when more kids get the opportunity to play, we’re going to see a lot of success at the international tournaments,” he said.

Coroneos said the clinics were not about changing the Samoan style of play, but about adding structure to help players prepare for international competition.

“We didn’t know the skill level of a Samoan, and we’ve actually been pleasantly surprised,” he said. “They’ve got a lot more natural skill than pretty much anyone that we’ve coached," he said. “We tried to implement a little bit of structure so that we can prepare them for the World Cup in two to three months.”

Coroneos said Samoa has the talent to become a force in international tag rugby if more players were exposed to regular high-level competition.

“I think the sky’s the limit,” he said. “We’ve only seen a small snapshot, but as more local kids get the opportunity to play, I’m sure that there’s probably another 500 out there in villages that just haven’t been given the opportunity yet.”

“International exposure is probably the thing that I think is the only thing that’s capping the growth,” he said. 

A Samoa Tag Incorporated spokesperson said the clinics had sharpened the players’ existing skills from their preparations dating back to October 2025 and provided a fresh voice during their preparations.

“Jeff and Brenno have both said they’ve (the players) got the fundamentals down,” the spokesperson said. “It’s just hearing it in another voice that often cements it for the boys.” 

Oztag is a fast-paced, non-contact version of rugby league in which defenders remove tags from the ball carrier rather than tackle.

Samoa will compete across 19 divisions at the 2026 Tag Rugby World Cup.