Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 28

Samoan NFL player Juju Smith-Schuster shares how he grew up sleeping on the floor most of his childhood and didn't get his own room until he got to the NFL.  

He surprised his family earlier this year buying them a new house.

“Rugby, it’s the game played in heaven”

The future stars of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga participated in the 2020 Pacific Combine for a chance to showcase their talents and learn new skills to help them become complete rugby players.

Find out what happened over the three day event earlier this year.

Tua Tagovailoa gets another big win in Arizona, finishing with 248 passing yards and 2 touchdowns during Week 9 of the 2020 NFL season.

Go behind the scenes with Carlos Ulberg, Israel Adesanya and Brad Riddell as they travel to Las Vegas, Nevada in preparation for Ulberg's Contender Series fight against Bruno Oliveria.

Ulberg and Oliveria will be headlining the show with the opportunity for a UFC contract should Carlos win!  

"When I was younger I looked up to Joe Rocs, the fast Fijian winger who scored all the tries with the big dive ... something I tried to do at school, yeah I ended up winding myself" 

Hear from Hoskins Sotutu, as he delves into his idols, his father Waisake and his motivation for his outstanding 2020 season.

Over 500 Pacific Island ballers got together to play in the inaugural 1st Nations Polynesian Basketball Youth Tournament.

The tournament covered both Boys & Girls teams ranging from U13s through to U21s games with with 52 teams from all Pasifika communities - Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue and more.

Check out some of the highlights in the video above.

The biggest boxing event to be held in Sydney for more than a decade was confirmed today after leading promoters No Limit Boxing announced Bankwest Stadium as the venue for an historic Double Header on December 16, 2020.

Alongside Australian boxing star Tim Tszyu who will be fighting Kiwi boxer Bowyn Morgan, the 'Super Samoan' Mark Hunt makes his return to the ring against former NRL star Paul Gallen in what will be the first co-main event to be held in Australia and the first Sydney stadium fight since Mundine vs Green in 2006. 

Paul Gallen and Mark Hunt is a rare match-up set to attract the interest of all sports fans, excited to see two big men with big mouths finally go toe-to-toe after a previously scheduled contest for April was cancelled due to COVID-19.…more

This year the Dally M Awards were held at a virtual ceremony broadcast by Fox Sports last night and Pasifika, Maori & Indigenous players dominated the awards with 9 out of 13 players receiving Team of the Year Positional Awards.

Pasifika, Maori & Indigenous players also dominated in other awards of the night as follows - 

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TACKLE OF THE YEAR - JOSH PAPALI'I 

Samoan 

Raiders big man Josh Papalii wins Youi Tackle of the Year honours for his incredible effort to run down Titans half Jamal Fogarty in round 15 at Cbus Super Stadium.

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TRY OF THE YEAR - KOTONI STAGGS 

Tongan / Indigenous (Wiradjuri) 

Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs wins the Drinkwise Try of the Year award for his stunning individual effort against the Dragons in round 15 when he bamboozled Euan Aitken and stepped Matt Dufty to score a pearler.

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Presented by Hugo Boss | Samoan Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hasn't played a snap in the NFL yet, but there's no question he's a special talent.

His move from amateur college athlete to professional NFL player meant that Tua started making some serious money. From a $80K 2020 Escalade for his mom to a $10K Rolex watch for his dad, find out everything he spent his first million dollars on.

Meet All Blacks debutants Hoskins Sotutu, Caleb Clarke and Tupou Va'ai ahead of the opening Bledisloe Cup Test for 2020.

Hoskins Sotutu (Fijian) son of former son of Blues and Fijian rugby player Waisake Sotutu

Caleb Clarke (Samoan) son of former Blues and All Blacks centre Eroni Clarke 

Tupou Va'ai (Tongan) is a former Wesley College prefect and is the first player born in the 2000s to be named an All Black.