Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 36
Roman Reigns returns to the WWE - his cancer is in remission!
In an emotional address to the WWE Universe, The Big Dog reveals he is back in WWE after his battle with leukemia.
SAMOA TOUCH TO TOUCH WORLD CUP IN MALAYSIA
Island sports teams are notoriously disadvantaged in international games with lack of money and resource, checkout team #SamoaTouch and their aspirations to get to the Touch World Cup in Malaysia in the video above.
To get behind them with their fundraising initiative check out their Rallyme site here
THE HALFCAST PODCAST - TEAM JUGGERNAUT in THAILAND
Tyson & Tai chop it up with the boys in their Thailand camp leading up to their UFC Adelaide fights.
In between a lot of roasting and jokes they talk to the fighters Junior Tafa, Caleb Hunt & Salani Mila as well as Tyson & Tai themselves.
They introduce their trainers and team, discuss who would win in a Robert Whittaker & Israel Adesanya fight + Selby Devereux drops some history on why the CKB NZ team are so strong.
The boys spoke to Mark Hunt in an earlier episode here about early pride days, cheating in the sport, walk off knockouts and a lot more.
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* PG Recommended - Coarse Language
Unsung Heroes: Football and the Polynesian Athlete
“When you look at the special players who’ve come from Polynesia and Polynesian backgrounds, they’ve really impacted the game and made it a better game.”
Polynesian athletes are 28 times more likely to play in the NFL. Their culture has had a tremendous impact on the game of football. This documentary looks at the unsung heroes of the game.
NFL: JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER - POLYNESIAN PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
It's been another huge year for Samoan NFL player Juju Smith-Schuster. At the end of last month, he was voted by his Pittsburgh Steelers team-mates as their 2018 MVP and today he was announced as the Polynesian Pro Football Player of the Year by the Polynesian Pro Football Hall of Fame for the 2nd consecutive year.
Check out his year in review in the video above.
The Polynesian Pro Football Player of the Year Award recognizes the most outstanding professional football player of Polynesian Ancestry. Arizona Cardinals Offensive Guard Mike Iupati was selected as the inaugural recipient in 2015, Tennessee Titans Quarterback Marcus Mariota was selected as the recipient in 2016 and Smith-Schuster also received the award in 2017.…more
NFL: VAI SIKAHEMA - SOLE BROTHERS
Watch the beautiful story of how former NFL players Vai Sikahema and Barret Brooks are bonded for life over a simple act of Kindness.
Vai Sikahema has been a pioneer for his island nation of Tonga. He's the first Tongan to win a football scholarship to Brigham Young University, the first Tongan to play in the National Football League and the first Tongan to play in the Pro Bowl.
Upon retiring from the NFL in 1994, Vai was hired by then-CBS owned and operated television station WCAU in Philadelphia to do weekend sports. He later moved to weekdays, becoming a morning news anchor as well as the station's sports director.
In 2002, Vai graduated from BYU — 17 years after he left the school to join the NFL! As of 2018, he's been at WCAU for 24 years. He also regularly contributes a column, generally related to religion rather than sports topics, to the Deseret News.
Credit: NFL Films
College Football: TUA TAGOVAILOA - HEISMAN TROPHY FINALIST
Each year in December The Heisman Memorial Trophy aka the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman, is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football in the United States whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work.
This year Samoan Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (born and raised in Hawaii) who plays for the Alabama Crimson Tide is a finalist. It's the first time in 84 years that the top 3 vote getters are Quarterbacks of colour!
Another Samoan Quarterback born in Hawai'i - Marcus Mariota won the Heisman in 2014.
The 2018 winner of the award will be announced tomorrow night in New York. All the best Tua! Check out his 2018 highlight reel in the video above.
Football: TIM CAHILL - ALL 50 OF HIS GOALS FOR AUSTRALIA
Australia's Socceroos greatest & most iconic personality - Samoan footballer Tim Cahill played his last international game for Australia against Lebanon yesterday! Congratulations on an amazing career!
After the game he was given a standing ovation and had the following words to say to his fans
“This is the only time you’re going to see me cry,” Cahill began.
“I want to say thank you, firstly to my family. For being there from day one, the sacrifices my family made for me is the reason why every time I step on that pitch I’m fearless, I’m free. Nothing can hurt me on the pitch and everything I do is for my family.
“Secondly, I want to thank my teammates and all the staff that I’ve worked with. The coaches, the players, without you guys I’ll be nothing, honestly I’ll be nothing. The coaches that are not here, the players that are not here, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.
“Now, the most important people as well, is the fans.…more
WWE: Roman Reigns battle with Leukaemia forces him to relinquish Universal Championship
Earlier this evening on Monday Night Raw, the WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns revealed that he was battling leukaemia and would be stepping away from the ring & relinquishing the Universal Champion belt.
The 33 year old Samoan wrestler whose real name is Leati Joseph Anoa'i left the crowd speechless as he let them know he'd been battling the disease for the last 11 years.
Moments after announcing that his returning leukemia had forced him to relinquish the Universal Championship, he was met with an outpouring of support backstage.…more
NRL: Andrew Fifita leads the Tongan Sipi Tau against Australia
For the first time in history, Australia faced off against the Mate Ma'a Tonga & their Sipi Tau.
Andrew Fifita led the Tongan Sipi Tau for the first time. Captain Sika Manu said in the post match interview that off the back of Jason Taumalolo leading it against the Kiwis in the World Cup last year, that Andrew would be the right person to lead it against his old team.