Tonga vs Australia: Tonga's Wider Squad
29 tokos have been named in an extended Tonga squad for their Test vs Australia in Auckland and while it features all the usual suspects of Tonga's dominant run, there are also a few funky selections thrown in. You'd expect that in any extended squad and Manu Ma'u is the only player from the mid-season Test vs Samoa who is unavailable, so regardless of who has been named in the wider squad we can expect a fairly similar line up for the Kangaroos Test.
That will all be clearer when the extended squad becomes the actual squad, most likely after the Grand Final. Players named in the wider squad, who didn't play vs Samoa are Mahe Fonua, Moeaki Fotuaika, Solomone Kata, Samisoni Langi, Sika Manu, Sam Moa, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Tevita Pangai Junior, Agnatius Paasi, Leivaha Pulu, Scott Sorenson and Ukuma Ta'ai.
Most of those players were part of the World Cup squad and coach Kristian Woolf is doing a great job of integrating the England Super League players into the NRL group. That was a low key factor during the World Cup and again, I don't expect there to be too many changes to the team that beat Samoa, but those Super League players are older, more experienced by nature and that offers a good mix of experience, leadership and mana (what's the Tongan word for mana?).
The most obvious change to make will be bringing Pangai Jnr into the team, as a direct replacement for Ma'u on the edge. Cronulla Sharks forward Scott Sorenson could also come into the mix as an edge forward, as well as Sika Manu and Ben Murdoch-Masila. Such is the quality of Tonga's forward pack, it's difficult to see where Warriors duo Paasi and Pulu fit in, although their selection in the wider squad is a reflection of their work with the Warriors after moving back across the ditch from Gold Coast Titans.
I've always been super intrigued by the play-makers and this Test will be an interesting juncture for the Tuimoala Lolohea/Ata Hingano combination. The great thing here is that they have a combination and the consistency in selection of the halves pairing, along with hookers Sione Katoa and Siliva Havili, plus fullback Will Hopoate is equally as influential as the abundance of powerful, mobile forwards.
However, Hingano only played 9 games and his last game was in round 14. Lolohea only played 6 NRL games and there was zero consistency in where he played those 6 games for the Tigers. Prior to the Samoa Test, Hingano and Lolohea were floating in and out of NRL footy, at least they were around first grade and managed to get game time. Now, ahead of a Test against Australia, neither Hingano nor Lolohea has been close to NRL footy for a while and that's less than ideal for a game where they will be under far more pressure from the Aussies.
Tonga have two slick hookers, although I was a wee bit surprised not to see Manase Fainu at least in the extended squad. The Manly Sea Eagles hooker settled into NRL footy nicely after making his debut season and he would have been the perfect selection as he'd get a taste of Tongan camp, plus Fainu has a history of playing in the halves.
This is where things get juicy; Fainu was also named in the Junior Kiwis wider squad. Fainu has been in the NZRL Taurahere program, graduating from that to the Junior Kiwis last year and despite that, I still believe Fainu is most likely to go the Tonga route.
Moeaki Fotuaika is the other in this category and this sets up an almighty battle between Tonga and Aotearoa. NZRL was very aggressive in naming Fotuaika (and the other Tongans) in their Junior Kiwis wider squad, with Fotuaika being in the Junior Kiwis last year and then being selected in the Tonga squad for the mid-season Test but not playing. What makes this such a big deal is that Fotuaika is awesome and flourished in the NRL for Gold Coast Titans in his debut season.
Again, I suspect Fotuaika will follow the trail blazed by Jason Taumalolo, Andrew Fifita etc. Should Fotuaika stick with Tonga, it won't be too long before he's in their top-17 and I was surprised when Tevita Tatola was selected ahead of Fotuaika for the Samoa Test. I believe this is more a case of NZRL naming all the players they want, in the Junior Kiwis wider squad and being aggressive in that regard. Fotuaika will have to decide at some stage and as he's already cracked a Tonga squad and a wider squad, expect him to stay on that path.
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Peace and love 27.