He's physically fit now. When he began the season at Leeds he was the size of Konrad Hurrell. There were a few in a similar position at the start of the season at Leeds, Hurrell included. He was a turnstile for months until his fitness improved a little.

Great game and result for Tonga.

Maybe the win over GB last week wasn't as bad as people were saying...

Unfortunately the risk of relegation was too high for Leeds to persist with Lolohea. It's a shame it didn't work out but I'm pleased that he's managed to kick on with his career.

lol..... I dont mind the odd heritage player here and there, but how many of that tongan side were actually born in tonga? Also, how many have already been capped for a different country?
I was there last night and the tongan fans were fantastic, but they are not a tier 1 nation.... More like a tier 1 reserve side made up of kiwis and aussies.
When do tonga play fiji BTW? That'll be a quality game.

Identity isnt defined by one's place of birth.

Whether they have been capped for another nation is irrelevant. It's better for the game if player's can switch to to tier 2 nations.

The brilliant thing with Tonga is this all has a knock on effect. You will get players now who from day 1 will choose to represent Tonga.

Jason Taumalolo decision to play for Tonga started all this. Nobody could have imagined that one decision would see such a snowball effect.

Not forgetting the National Sport in Tonga is Rugby Union. A strong Tongan Rugby League side could have a huge effect in getting more people playing League.

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?