The Cook Island Women’s Head Coach, Rusty Matua is full of confidence ahead of their first Rugby League World Cup fixture against Australia at the LNER Community Stadium in York on November 2, 2022.
Matua told a press conference, “I think that’s an advantage to us being the underdogs, as we’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
France and New Zealand are also in the same group, but nevertheless Matua was upbeat during the press conference and showed gratitude towards the host nation for giving him and his team this chance. Matua went on to say “Our goal is to upset one of the big dogs, so thank you England for giving us this kind of opportunity.”
Past, Present and Future
The Asian Pacific side will be making a 3rd appearance in the competition, with their previous appearances dating back to 2003 and 2017, where in the latter they defeated England in the group stages.
The Moana’s side have already qualified for the 2025 Women’s Rugby League World Cup taking place in France and will look to leave their rugby league mark regardless of performances against group B rivals Australia, New Zealand and France.
Nothing to fear
The Cook Island players have had a rough few days with most of the squad coming together from different parts of the world, and eventually meeting up in the UK. Despite this, it seems like a handful of the squad have ingrained the beliefs and positiveness from their Head Coach, with Kimiora Nati saying.”I just stay composed as much as I can and don’t really take on pressure.”
It is evident that the Moana’s certainly mean business and if they want to go far in the words of Rusty Matua”…focusing on the team and working cohesively is most important.”
