Tonga want home Test while Taumalolo still on deck
Joel Gould |
Tonga will continue to push the compelling case for a home Test match to make the most of the extraordinary impact the team has had on rugby league in the Pacific nation.
Coach Kristian Woolf is adamant the Test should be played while co-captain and Tonga legend Jason Taumalolo is still playing.
The 32-year-old changed the face of international rugby league when he committed his international future fully to Tonga in the leadup to the 2017 World Cup.
Tonga asked the NRL to play a Pacific Championships Test in Tonga this year but AAP understands broadcasting logistics were a hurdle.
Teufaiva Sports Stadium in Nuku’alofa has capacity for 10,000 people.
The stadium, repaired after Cyclone Gita struck in 2018, already has as tenants the Moana Pasifika Super Rugby side and Tonga international rugby union and soccer teams.
Woolf said the Tongan rugby league team wanted a Test at the venue soon. The side trained there last week on their trip to Tonga.
“It is achievable,” Woolf said.
“If you look at Super Rugby and international rugby union they have played games over there and they have played in recent years.
“We trained at the stadium and it can certainly do with some work in different areas but we would be more than happy to play in the conditions that are there.
“Accommodation and those kind of areas aren’t an issue. The biggest issue I think is broadcast and making sure there is some work done to the facilities and change rooms.
“They can certainly be improved but (playing a Test there) is something we really want do and something we really want to do in the near future.”
Taumalolo is revered in Tonga and was feted by fans on their recent visit.
“I love the way the team is received but Jason is at the forefront of that as well,” Woolf said.
“While we have got him in our team and while we have got him in our game we should be taking a game to Tonga and using the momentum he and the team bring.
“There is no doubt that in Tonga, and with Tongans abroad in our diaspora groups, that rugby league is the most popular sport but rugby union is a little bit more entrenched and organised.
” I believe if we take a game to Tonga, with the superstars we have got, and play in front of the people that support us we can make Tonga a rugby league nation.”
The Tongan Rugby League believes hosting a Test match, while interest in the team is sky high, would generate enormous support and fast-track planned development programs.
The Australian government allocated $600 million over 10 years last December towards rugby league in the Pacific. While $290 million of that was dedicated to the operations of the PNG side that will enter the NRL in 2028, there was also $250 million set aside for what is known as the Pacific rugby league partnership.
The partnership will facilitate and strengthen grassroots participation and create an elite pathway system for players in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. That will eventually include development officers and academies.
AAP
