Jo Barrett will never forget the Jillaroos last tour of Samoa. In fact, the memories of the trip are etched into the minds of every player in the squad.
It was September 2011 and after months of fundraising, a squad was picked to fly to Apia.
The Jillaroos played a warmup game against a local team before a Test match against Samoa. Australia prevailed 42-14.
Barrett, unfortunately, didn’t make it to the second game.
“I took a hit up in the warmup match and broke my ankle,” Barrett recalls. “We didn’t have a team doctor, we didn’t have a physio and the first aid was a lovely guy who brought out a bag of ice that was melted by the time he got to me because it was so hot.
“They took me to hospital, did an x-ray told me it wasn’t broken and sent me on my way. I spent the rest of the tour with my leg all blown up, all I had was Panadol. I didn’t have crutches so Steph Hancock carried me around everywhere.
“When we got home I saw a doctor and I had fractured my fibula and ripped all the ligaments off the bone and I had to have major surgery.”
The trip has been front of mind in recent weeks as the Jillaroos prepare to play Samoa for the first time since the 2011 tour at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
A host of past players will assemble at the ground to kick off the Australian team’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
The changes in the past 14 years have been significant and in a weird way, Barrett’s ordeal played a major role in ushering a new era for the Jillaroos.
“Samoa was a huge moment for us,” Tahnee Norris said. “We went to Samoa without having any medical staff. Jo broke her ankle and we realised there were so many things we had zero coverage for.”
“The outcome of that disaster was the insurance, the medical care and the medical support for players improved,” Barrett adds. “We got that cleaned up by 2013 and that was the first time we travelled with a physio.”
Retired prop Heather Ballinger made her Jillaroos debut in Samoa in 2011 but it wasn’t until 2017 that she fully recognised how much medical support had improved.
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“I broke my hand in 2017 a few months out from the World Cup,” Ballinger said. “I remember thinking I’d lost my chance at playing in a home World Cup.
“Normally you have to get a referral, then wait to see the doctor, then wait to have an operation and it can take weeks. I got in contact with the Australian doctor, he saw my x-rays and referred me to a doctor in Brisbane.
“I saw that doctor the next day and he operated on me that night. I realised thenit had come a long way from where we were in 2011.”
In addition to improved medical support, the tour of Samoa marked the last time the Australian women’s team was forced to fundraise to pay for flights and accommodation.
The NRL covered their expenses at the 2013 World Cup before players were paid for the first time for a Test against New Zealand in 2014.
More than a decade on and the game’s biggest stars are household names who can earn a living from rugby league.
Samoa haven’t been so fortunate.
After playing the Jillaroos in 2011, it was eight years before they played their next Test match.
Their growth stagnated as Australia and New Zealand pulled away and established themselves as the dominant force in women’s rugby league.
That, however, has slowly started to change in recent years.
The expansion of the NRLW has provided more opportunities for players with Samoan heritage to compete in the world’s best competition.
The rise of the Samoan men’s team has inspired a new generation of female players to achieve the same success in the women’s game.
And the introduction of the Pacific Championships in 2023 has provided regular opportunities for the Samoan team to play international rugby league.
The growth in the past few years under the tutelage of head coach Jamie Soward has been remarkable.
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Samoa claimed the Pacific Bowl in 2024 to secure their place in the 2026 Rugby League World Cup before they beat Papua New Guinea to earn promotion to the Pacific Cup tournament this year.
Players such as Sienna Lofipo and Amber Hall are now choosing to represent Samoa rather than Australia or New Zealand.
They led New Zealand 20-0 and went within a whisker of a historic victory over the Kiwi Ferns in Auckland last weekend.
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That performance set the stage for a showdown with the Jillaroos on Sunday afternoon, with Soward confident his side can challenge the world champions.
“It will be a competitive match,” Soward said. “We’ve got to be playing more often. But as much as we’re pushing for it, we’ve got to be patient to make sure we get the timing right.
“We can expand the Pacific Championships when the World Cup isn’t being held. It doesn’t have to just be Australia and New Zealand playing against each other all the time.
“We can expand it, make it a mini tournament and have more teams. The girls aren’t playing 27 club games like the men so maybe they can play more international games.”
Jillaroos co-captain Ali Brigginshaw is the only player remaining from the 2011 Samoa tour.
Having watched Sunday’s game, the playmaker doesn’t need to be told how tough this weekend’s clash will be.
After waited 14 long years between Tests, Brigginshaw hopes it’s not long before the next time the two nations face off.
“It was a memorable trip,” Brigginshaw said. “The Samoans were so passionate about their culture and that hasn’t changed. They are passionate about that Samoa jersey.
“I can only see big things being put together by that team and being able to play against them shows the game is moving in a good direction. We should’ve always been playing against them, they deserve this opportunity to be here.”
