Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 43

He has just made history by becoming the first Samoan to win the Heavyweight Championship of the world. We Catch up with Joseph Parker, straight after his hard fought win and he tells us all about taking the belt back home... to Samoa.

Before Joseph Parker, some other very powerful Samoans stepped in to the ring.

Jimmy Peau & David Tua to name a couple. Here's a little look at the carnage they caused, as they paved the way for Joseph Parker.

The Hawai'i State Championship final in November saw the Kahuku Red Raiders and the Saint Louis Crusaders meet again.

Saint Louis went on to win 30 - 14 to claim the Open State Football Title but what was interesting about this game besides the game was that the Kahuku Red Raiders were not allowed to perform the haka.

In 2010 a haka was composed for Kahuku's football team which became a tradition for the boys to perform at the beginning of their games (similar to the hakas performed in New Zealand and the South Pacific islands prior to rugby and rugby league games).

Last year the Kahuku Raiders were told that if they did the haka it would be considered "Unsportsmanlike" and they'd be given a 15 yard penalty.  They did it anyway and took the penalty.

THIS year, the team were told that any player performing the haka would be banned so the community got together - friends, family and fans - to help the team and THEY performed the haka in the stands for the boys.…more

Sevens From Heaven is the story of Fiji Rugby Sevens, the winners of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2015/16 and the team that inspired the world in Rio when they won Fiji's first ever Olympic medal, and a gold at that!

Discover how a tiny island nation with limited resources took on the world at Rugby Sevens and won. Go inside the team with never-before-seen footage to see what it took to take a team from an island in the South Pacific to becoming the best in the world.

Suggested Links:

Fiji 7s win Gold at the Olympics  

Na Qito Vakaviti - Traditional Games 

Credits:
Created by HSBC Sport in collaboration with Zoomfiji - https://www.facebook.com/1zoomfiji/
Produced by Hill + Knowlton Strategies
Music: Composed by Ross Budgen - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKG...

*** COCO EXCLUSIVE ***

Every time Joseph Parker steps in the ring he wears a new pair of shorts but what you probably don't know is that he designs them himself!

He also buys all of the material, picks the colours and goes shopping for everything himself too.

For his upcoming WBO Heavyweight Championship fight, he took the Coconet along with him on one such shopping trip.

Suggested Links:

Joseph Parker - Our future Heavyweight Champion of the World 

Joseph Parker - My World 

Roosters cult figure Eloni Vunakece has re-signed with the club.

When Eloni Vunakece finally made his NRL debut this season, aged 28 & a father of two, he was the lowest-paid player on the field.

He was only ever meant to train once a week with the Roosters in pre-season but asked Trent Robinson if he could do more, to which the coach replied: "If you can handle it, you can keep coming."

He handled it, despite working full-time as a garbo, with 3am starts on weekdays before training at noon. His first game against Manly was so impressive that Vunakece has been in talks for a new, upgraded contract - timely, given that he's now got a baby son to go with his two daughters.

A versatile forward who can play prop, second row and even lock, Vunakece’s persistence at Intrust Super Premiership NSW level over a number of years was finally rewarded with a promotion to the NRL for nine games off the bench this season.

Finally, it's a done deal.…more

Coco Exclusive:  The Coconet is the only media that has been allowed inside Joseph Parkers Las Vegas training camp.

He shares how it's all going and how he plans to beat Andy Ruiz to create history and become NZ and Samoa's first heavyweight boxing champion of the world!

Credits - 

Director & Editor:  Tuki Laumea 

Cameraman:  Hayden Aull 

Suggested Links:

Joseph Parker - My World 

Joshua responds to Parkers call out 

Rumour has it that NZ/Tongan NBA Basketball superstar Steven Adams is set to receive a massive pay rise!

Adrian Wojranowski, editor of TheVertical.com tweeted earlier today that Adams and the Thunder were negotiating a deal in the $100m ($140m NZD) range, which is expected to be completed by the October 31 deadline (tomorrow in the US).

Basketball journalist Eric Horne who covers the Oklahoma City Thunder for 'The Oklahoman' also claims that In locking down Steven Adams, the Oklahoma City Thunder have secured their core for the foreseeable future.  

"For as long as the Thunder have been a competitive team, Serge Ibaka's been that defensive anchor, and when they traded him [on June 23], they were really pushing their chips in on Steven Adams as a young centre-piece," Horne said.

If these reports are correct and Steven does sign said deal, it would make him NZ's highest paid athlete.

Coco congrats Steven!  

Baller Shot Caller for Real!  

Suggested Links: 

Steven Adams Basketball Camp 

Steven Adams shows off NZ in doco 'The Kiwi Way' 

Two young Tongan swimmers, Finau ‘Ohuafi (15) and Noelani Day (13) brought home a total of 16 medals between them, including 9 Gold and 7 Silver, after competing in the SC Central Region Age Group Invitational 2016 in Suva, Fiji.

The local swimmers from Malolo Swim Club represented Tonga in 19 events over the two-day competition last week against swimmers from Fiji and Samoa at the Damador Aquatics Center.

Team Tonga organizer, Vila Day said they are very happy with the swimmers.

“Finau and Noelani both did exceptionally well, and we were very happy with their performance, especially given that they have not been to a pool competition in over two years - they have been doing mostly open water“

"Leading up to the comp, we were lucky to have Scenic hotel allow them to use their pool, but only from 6am to 7am, before guests were up. We made the most of this kind offer and had training there about 5 mornings a week.…more

"The Super Samoan" has been in the Octagon with three fighters who have failed drug tests and he's had enough. He's demanding a change, wants provisions made in his contract to deter other fighters from cheating, and is willing to fight UFC in court.

Mark Hunt has rained down fire and brimstone at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ever since Brock Lesnar was flagged by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) following their fight at UFC 200 this past July, and he has yet to let up on his harsh criticism of the fight promotion.

The No.7-ranked UFC heavyweight has let it rip in the last few months, repeatedly bashing the promotion several times publicly and insisting they do more to rid their roster of cheating fighters after learning Lesnar tested positive for hydroxy-clomiphene, an anti-estrogen agent, in both in and out-of-competition drug tests issued by USADA for UFC 200. To use a driving analogy, he's far beyond honking the horn and asking someone to move.…more