Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 41

The Rugby League World Cup 2017 kicks off tonight in Melbourne where Australia take on England and our Pacific boys - Toa Samoa, Mate Ma'a Tonga, Fiji Bati & the PNG Kumuls are set to take the field over the next couple of days in the first rounds of pool play.

With there being a lot of discussion & some controversy over a couple of the Tongan players opting to "Turn their backs" on Australia & New Zealand and go with Tonga & their heritage, Toa Samoa have managed to escape a lot of the media focus in the build up to the Rugby League World Cup.

We caught up with some of the boys earlier in the week and asked them their thoughts on playing for their country of heritage, whether they feel like they're coming in as the Underdogs, who the funny guys in the team are & more ...

What do you think about players going to play for their country of heritage?

Frank Pritchard (Captain)  I think it’s healthy for the game. It evens up the competition, especially for international rugby.…more

Konrad Hurrell, Sika Manu, Coach Kristian Woolf, Captain William Hopoate & Jason Taumalolo at the National Rugby League Press Conference. 

 Fiji defeated Tonga in Nuku’alofa 2017 to qualify for the RWC 2019.

The Kingdom of Tonga have never been short on world class athletes - they've competed on the international stage in Boxing, the NFL, Rugby League, AFL, Rugby Union, Taekwondo, netball and now a small group of young swimmers are making waves internationally.

This year alone, they've competed in the Apolima Strait swim (Upolu to Savai'i) in Samoa in April where they not only won but were the youngest team, the Fiji Long Course Nationals in June, the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas, FINA World Championships in Budapest (Andrew Emberson) and four of the swimmers have just recently returned from the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan ... and they're not done.

The team have set their sights set on the Fiji Short Course nationals at the end of this month, the Victorian age championships in Melbourne, Australia in December and the Anthony Mosse classic in New Zealand at the beginning of 2018.…more

Wrestlers all have their signature moves and Tama Tonga is no exception.

Check out his top 10 moves he brings to the wrestling ring at New Japan Pro Wrestling including the Stinger Splash, Dropkick & Whiplash .....

Check out highlights of Vaea Fifitas incredible performance in his test starting debut against Argentina.

NFL legends & Polynesian Football Hall of Famers Jesse Sapolu, Matt Tanuvasa & Jack Thompson were in Auckland to check out the local talent and to introduce American football as an option to the Pacific Island & Polynesian kids in New Zealand.

Seta Tamanivalu, Joni Macilai & Manasa Mataele go back to their homeland of Fiji for the Crusaders Super Rugby match against the Chiefs.

The Ultimate Waterman is a New Zealand based global surfing event to find the world’s best all-round waterman across multiple surfing disciplines.

The world’s finest watermen will come together in New Zealand in 2016 to compete in eight different surfing disciplines over nine days. 

The eight disciplines will include:
• Shortboard surfing
• Longboard surfing
• Stand Up Paddle (SUP) surfing
• Stand Up Paddle (SUP) endurance (16km race)
• Big Wave Paddle in surfing
• Waka-Ama endurance (16km race)
• Prone Paddleboard race (technical short course through waves)
• Underwater strength run and swim race (25m underwater run and 25m swim)

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Director: Olly Coddington

We're keepin it fresh with our Pasifika boys in the NRL Pacific Leadership camp.

The NRL run a Pacific Leadership camp and bring in 2 or 3 players from each club who've been identified by their clubs as guys with leadership potential.  

The aim is to challenge and upskill them to enable them to help our Pacific communities a bit more.

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CREDITS:

Directors:  Shimpal Lelisi & Danny Aumua

Camera Operators:  Danny Aumua & Penina Momoiseā

Sound Operator:  Marty Cox 

Producer:  Lisa Taouma

Thank you 

Nigel Vagana, NRL Australia, NRL Welfare & Education, Pasifika Film Fest & University of New South Wales