Remind us again why he made such a decision. Was it to strengthen Tongan RL or was it because he disagreed with a management decision of the NZRL and in true Pacific Island style, spat his dummy out?

Also. Of the crowd there all day yesterday, 60-75% were of Tongan descent. The reality is that more average Kiwis from South Auckland will play for Tonga if not selected for the Kiwis.......but it's hardly going to make a difference in Tonga itself, where the authorities have suspended the coach and AGAIN, PLAYER POWER is being utilised.

Discipline and respect are 2 of the main pillars of RL.......TauMalolo lacks either it would seem, be that towards the NZRL or the Tongan RL and whilst they may have picked up the win yesterday, it won't be RLIF (or whatever they are called now) sanctioned.

This is why The current super league champions appointed woolf

Nobody cares if it wasnt sanctioned. The reality is Australia lost to Tonga. Its a huge story and no official sanction changes that. Tonga have beaten 3 tier one nations and whether one wants to call them rebels it doesn't really matter.

Trying to pour rain on their parade seems pretty sad. This sport needs stronger international nations. You think the mad celebrations in Tonga are in anyway diminished due to no official sanction? Australia last lost to a minor nation in 1978. That has just been changed and we should be loving it.

Firstly those saying Lolohea looked good must have been watching a different game to me. I thought he was average at best with aimless kicking and attempts at miracle plays when he wasn’t anonymous. He’s lost some weight but is still overweight for a half back.

Secondly I couldn’t give a toss which body is decided to be the official one for Tonga (the Tongan PM asked the RLIF to disband the old one and register the new one) that Tongan team wouldn’t be any different so it’s irrelevant who the management is.

We should be celebrating a momentous day in International rugby league and the sport should do everything it can to support Tonga’s development.

He definitely needs to lose some timber.

I have no doubt Rugby Union in Tonga is looking at the rise of the RL team and the alarm bells are ringing.

To be clear. A New Zealand born player, picked for the Kiwis Squad in 2012, capped by Tonga in 2013 and who was then selected to play for the Kiwis in 2014, disagreed with the punishment of 2 Kiwi players for taking a class A drug and therefore opted to play for Tonga and you think that is a good thing for Rugby League?

He opted for New Zealand, then Tonga, then New Zealand aggain and now Tonga again. I get that other sports have "ringers", with the England Cricket Captain being Irish, their ICC World Cup hero a Kiwi and even the England Union side's first try v the AB's recently was scored by a Kiwi, but you are claiming a team, born almost entirely outside Tonga is Tongan?

Yes, where you are born doesn't always reflect your heritage (I hold Irish citizenship, I was born in Hertfordshire), but a side that is 98% not born in Tonga is not "good for International RL", no matter if they beat Australia, GB and New Zealand.

The current Tongan 21 man squad has 9 Australians, 11 Kiwis and a solitary Tongan Born Player, 11 of whom who have since (or before) represented the country of their birth, or in once case, John Asiata was born in Australia and has played for both Samoa and Tonga is as plastic a side as you can get. Do those fans who made up 15k of the 25.5k there yesterday care? Probably not, but neither does their playing under a flag boost the domestic game in Tonga.
Play a Tongan international RL match anywhere south of Hamilton and see what crowds you get. Google Tonga v Lebanon 2017 for an idea....it's not good. Even the game in Hamilton v GB was poorly attended. £12 is what the 3 games cost me to attend yesterday. Low pricing and games played on their doorstep, and Tonga looks to be the answer, but the reality is that like Toronto in SL, they're just a made up team doing little for the games development in their "home" town/country but making Myopic RL fans feel that the game "is on the up"

Oh. BTW. Tonga would have been relegated to Group B if the comp was definitely going to happen next year, but if it does happen, it'll be without the touring Kangaroos.

Tongan players are getting their living expenses covered mostly.
Australian players are getting $30K per game.
The best Tongan players, who could be playing for Aus or NZ instead, are hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket to represent their culture.
Jason Taumalolo would walk into the Australian side, but plays for virtually nothing for Tonga instead.
Honestly, the Tongans completely own the moral high ground when it comes to representing your people and culture.
A bunch or Australians are playing for England for a sweet paycheck, and Jason Taumalolo is living the dream of playing for his people for nothing.

Nonsense. You are applying Western/major nation style demographics to a country that doesn’t live in the same conditions.

There are 60,000 people of Tongan descent living in New Zealand alone never mind other nations around the world.

There are only 100,000 people living in Tonga. Of course they’re going to have a higher proportion of players born outside Tonga. It doesn’t stop them being Tongan.

Yet again you can’t stop yourself from b|tching and whining when RL has something even semi successful. It’s bizarre.

How have hull pulled off the Manu mau signing? He's looking like one of the world's best second rows at the moment

Manu Ma'u is his name, and he has a criminal background from a few years ago. Parramatta regard him as a ticking time bomb and thus a potential liability.

So why would Hull FC not want him and pay anything necessary to get him?

He's been ticking away at the Eels quite nicely since 2014.
They must have been really sh!it!ng themselves about their Dally M nominated second rower of 2019.

He was in trouble in his teenage years, its old news.

And we have built up good connections with the South Sea Island players inrrecent years, I beleive Motu Tony still does adhoc work for the club despite moving back home a few years ago. Ma'u also knows Sika Manu and Mahe Fonua well and I beleive both enjoyed their time at Hull.

Give over Lolohea had a great game, just accept that Leeds may have made a mistake letting a quality player go too soon.

Nobody was watching a different game to you they were actually watching the game!

Nope. I applaud Tonga as being a good side, but I decry claims that "they are just what the game needs at International level" or that "Tongans will queue up to represent them rather that Au or NZ", when the main driver is cash for the majority of players.
Taumalolo can afford to take the moral high ground given he's in the top 10% of highest paid NRL stars.

He was extremely fortunate to be allowed into Aus from NZ as he was sentenced for a violent crime and a 3 year prison sentence aged 19. Deportation loomed from Aus. if he seriously transgressed again.

He has turned his life around,however, and moves on with his rugby career.

Are there any other current players in Super League that have served a prison sentence?

What did he do that qualifies it as a great game?

Best second row forward for Tonga was Ben Murdoch Masila and for Fiji Kikau was outstanding.

Yeah you can't talk about world class second rowers without mentioning Kikau. He's on another level imo.

I thought BMM was outstanding for Tonga though. If he didn't play the full 80 he must have come close. Some devastating runs with ball in hand and he threw his weight around in defence too.

Australia were bashed around the park in that second half, I loved it! Perhaps this is the shot in the arm that the Aussies needed for them to actually start treating international RL with a bit more respect, who knows.

Absolutely correct. Plus NZ and Aus have for decades been raiding the South Sea islands, finding young talent and bringing them over to play junior rugby for their clubs, thus qualifying for Aus/NZ before they had any chance or even thought of representing their country of birth. If it's turning the other way just a little bit now that's good news.

I didn't think Sky did a catch up? I can never find anything when i look for it

Gutted i missed this so i can't wait to watch it

The last couple of minutes are comical in the way the Aussies managed not to score after creating a 5 on 2 situation near the Tongan line. Probably still scratching their heads as to how they botched it up.

What a game, absolutely loved it. I love seeing the Aussies get smashed so this game was beautiful to watch. If BMM plays like that next year for us we'll be much much better for it.
Yeah they were completely rattled i'm surprised they didn't take the game at the end but i'm very glad they didn't

1 Tongan born player in the current 21. Indisputable FACT. So your claim of "ANZAC SLAVE TRADERS' ghosting kids away to play for clubs is a myth.

Yes, Pacific Islanders flock to AU/Auckland in search of a better life and they do have families there, but the kids born to these immigrants aren't Tongan, Fijian, Samoan etc.....they are Australian or New Zealanders.

Again! Well done the Tongan invitational 13, but the reality is that RL in Tonga is on it 'arris and of the 21 squad players, maybe 2 could have expected a game for AU/NZ this weekend, the rest are 2nd tier NRL stars at International level.

Polynesians are all about family, religion and culture in that order, and western notions of national patriotism is a fairly new concept for them.
A Tongan is a Tongan because his family is Tongan. It wouldn't matter if he was born and lived on Mars - he'd still be Tongan as long as that was where his family was.
The massive crowd that supported them would have only had a handful of current residents of Tonga, because people who live there are pretty poor, but all those who travelled from all over NZ, Australia and America were all Tongans. If you don't believe that, you should tell them. I think they'd take it badly.

1. The 15k Tongan support came from South Auckland...well, 99.9% of it did.
2. The born to a tongan = you're a tongan debate is rubbish.......show them the 20k game money and they'll be whatever you want them to be.......
3. Play a game away from Auckland and see what you get.
4. The Tongan revolution is down to 1 player not agreeing with 2 players being unselected for snorting coke.....or am the only person to see this?
5. Tonga's rise isn't good for international RL as it shows what a sham we are in terms of eligibity rules. Half the squad have payed for other nations and only one was born in tonga.
6. Tonga RL at home (in Tonga) is a shambles.....

BTW. Polynesian Culture is as transient as any on the planet. The Rivalry between islands is fierce, except when there's money involved, then so long as you pay them, they will wear whatever shirt you want. That's not culture, that's commerce!