With a core group of young leaders from South Auckland, Tonga are Rugby League World Cup contenders once again. Tonga ran rampant during the 2017 RLWC and have since played five of their six Tests in Aotearoa, throwing up intrigue as to how Tonga performs without what was essentially a home advantage in Aotearoa.

Part of Tonga's success in the 2017 RLWC must be attributed to their supporters and in the following years everything was designed to build upon that momentum. While Tonga have a playing group that is as talented as the 2017 outfit or the 2019 team that defeated Great Britain and Australia, the buzz and momentum offered by their fans will be absent in England.

All of Tonga's big wins in recent years have come in Aotearoa and this does not feel like a coincidence. With this in mind, it's a bummer that young Aotearoa tokos Christian Tuipulotu (Otahuhu), Starford To'a (Mt Wellington) and Taniela Otukolo (Otahuhu) dropped out from the wider squad. Eliesa Katoa may have the closest connection to Tonga of theier entire wider squad as he moved from Tonga to Tamaki College in Auckland as a teenager, but Katoa didn't make the final squad either.

Marist junior Sitili Tupouniua and Tuipulotu both played on home soil in Auckland against Aotearoa. Tupouniua is still recovering from a season-ending injury and was enjoying a fantastic season with Roosters. Add to that Agnatius Paasi (Mangere East) and David Fusitu'a (Marist) dropping out and the Aotearoa angle is all about hearty veterans leading Tonga once again.

There are a few Tongans with murky Aotearoa connections. Moeaki Fotuaika is from Gisborne but has opted for the Queensland State of Origin path, while Sione Katoa was born in Hamilton before moving to Sydney at a young age. Isaiya Katoa is the funkiest of this group as he is the younger brother of former Panther/Bulldog Sione and they are both from Wellington, before moving to Sydney.

Apart from this International Rugby Academy snap, there is little concrete information about Isaiya at a grassroots level in Wellington. Already signed to Redcliffe Dolphins, Isaiya started at halfback for Panthers SG Ball and Jersey Flegg in both finals which Panthers won. Isaiya's background in rugby union could give Tonga a crucial boost in the RLWC as Tonga's biggest weakness against Aotearoa was their kicking. Isaiya could be instrumental in steering Tonga around the park.

Tuimoala Lolohea (Marist) was joined by Ata Hingano as Tonga's halves in 2017 and they were as important as Tonga's dynamic forward pack. Neither had to dominate games, they just to executed the right kicks and distributed the footy. Now Lolohea is back for this RLWC and Talatau Amone started at halfback against Aotearoa, giving Tonga three halves to compete for starting opportunities.

Jason Taumalolo (Papakura/Otahuhu), Siosiua Taukeiaho (Otara) and Siliva Havili (Manurewa) offer South Auckland leadership once again. Most importantly though, these three all found a groove after niggly phases and enter the RLWC in form. Taumalolo and Taukeiaho both gave their career-best footy a nudge, especially in the second half of the NRL season as well as getting a wee break prior to departing for England.

Havili moved from Raiders to Rabbitohs and while he played as a robust middle forward for much of the season, Havili got plenty of game time at hooker as well. Don't overlook Havili as a leader for Tonga and this can be obvious when Havili is leading the Sipi tau, while less obvious when Havili is churning out reliable dummy half mahi.

Otahuhu's Ben Murdoch-Masila rounds out the Aotearoa connection in Tonga's squad and after sporadic appearances for Aotearoa Warriors, it's tricky to predict his role for Tonga. Murdoch-Masila sits down the pecking order in Tonga's forward pack but he is another veteran in this squad and with lots of young Australian tokos, the more veteran kiwi-tokos the better.

Tonga are in Group D with Papua New Guinea, Wales and Cook Islands. They will play those three teams in that same order and they will be aiming to finish on top of this group, ideally giving game time to most of their squad. This could be a tricky group though and PNG will be eager to upset Tonga in that first game. A RLWC in England will be vastly different to the 2017 tournament in Aotearoa and how Tonga deal with a different vibe, let alone greater expectations will be crucial to their campaign.

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