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Tonga - union or league?


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1 minute ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Has league taken over in terms of general popularity? 

Both in Tonga itself and the diaspara? 

I was reading somewhere the other day that Pacific Islanders like the more open style play of League This goes part the way to explain its popularity in the Pacific and the Islander diaspora. Auckland a city with a large Pacific Islander population has been mentioned by some as a league city.

A lot of those nations are still seen as being predominantly union but they definitely open to League.

An interesting thing I read the other day was that young star for the Warriors who had never played League before this year, Katoa, family did not even know about NRL and assumed that he was playing Union. The Warriors bought his family a tv so that they now know he is playing League. I suppose there is probably a fair bit of this in that region that only greater exposure will fix . But from what we are seeing they are definitely receptive.

The NRL has a lot more resources to spend in this region than  OZ union and I don`t think that NZ union is too flush either.

With so many stars in the NRL from that region who are now keen to represent their country the outlook would seem pretty positive.

 I think they have a Jason Taumololo Cup, he`s not a bad marketing tool.

 

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5 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Taumololo is great on the telly

Think he did a thing on The Fan and I thought he came across funnynut humble... For such a colossus of the game its amazing 

Lets hope the NRL do push Pacifica....if Aus/England get more and more competitive nations to play then everyone wins... The clubs included! 

For many years I worked with Pacific Islanders from the various  countries across the Pacific,  a friendly warm bunch you would ever meet, once they liked you they treat you like brother. They invite to their houses and their parties. And you are right, for such huge blokes they often have an impish and cheeky sense of humour with that funny almost giggle laugh where they hunch their shoulders at the same time they laugh.

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54 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

For many years I worked with Pacific Islanders from the various  countries across the Pacific,  a friendly warm bunch you would ever meet, once they liked you they treat you like brother. They invite to their houses and their parties. And you are right, for such huge blokes they often have an impish and cheeky sense of humour with that funny almost giggle laugh where they hunch their shoulders at the same time they laugh.

Sounds like they laughed a lot when you were around..🤔🤔

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8 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

Sounds like they laughed a lot when you were around..🤔🤔

I will tell you something for free. We all you used to laugh a lot . And you know in the spinal injuries ward where we all worked lifting the poor buggers who could no longer move themselves often a bit of levity didn`t go astray. There was a lot of really depressed men and women in that ward and often way too young and if we put a smile on their faces, even for a few minutes ,that always felt good, hopefully for all concerned.

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The Auckland Rugby League is currently about 85% Islander or Maori. This percentage has steadily risen over the past half century. However, there are still only a small number of secondary schools who offer League as an option. Union-only remains the default.

If someone plays League for a club, but goes to a Union-only school, in which constituency would they be counted when assessing the relative popularity of the two games amongst any cultural group?

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21 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I was reading somewhere the other day that Pacific Islanders like the more open style play of League This goes part the way to explain its popularity in the Pacific and the Islander diaspora. Auckland a city with a large Pacific Islander population has been mentioned by some as a league city.

A lot of those nations are still seen as being predominantly union but they definitely open to League.

An interesting thing I read the other day was that young star for the Warriors who had never played League before this year, Katoa, family did not even know about NRL and assumed that he was playing Union. The Warriors bought his family a tv so that they now know he is playing League. I suppose there is probably a fair bit of this in that region that only greater exposure will fix . But from what we are seeing they are definitely receptive.

The NRL has a lot more resources to spend in this region than  OZ union and I don`t think that NZ union is too flush either.

With so many stars in the NRL from that region who are now keen to represent their country the outlook would seem pretty positive.

 I think they have a Jason Taumololo Cup, he`s not a bad marketing tool.

 

You probably haven't been watching super rugby Aotearoa this year in regards to the Blues. I think Mate Maa Tonga is the flavour of the Kingdom at the moment but the local seen still dominate by union.

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1 hour ago, Taniwha Warriors said:

You probably haven't been watching super rugby Aotearoa this year in regards to the Blues. I think Mate Maa Tonga is the flavour of the Kingdom at the moment but the local seen still dominate by union.

When the union was on the up over here in the late `90`s and early 20`s the  Radio stations, namely 2UE, started covering the Blediscoe Cup live , and the silly buggers used to put one of their League personalities on the sideline. Their man of choice was Daryl Brohman, as if he knew anything about union. Any way I can still remember large groups of private school boys (they knew who he was ) yelling over the fence at him, " we`re coming to get you ". Now I always assumed they meant League not poor Daryl personally.

The reason I relate all this to you , is not because I am tempted to make the same claim as those over excited boys, but because I have  seen through life too much to indulge in such hubris, but cheekily will say " watch this space ". 

Your are on a Rugby League forum after all.🙂

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52 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

When the union was on the up over here in the late `90`s and early 20`s the  Radio stations, namely 2UE, started covering the Blediscoe Cup live , and the silly buggers used to put one of their League personalities on the sideline. Their man of choice was Daryl Brohman, as if he knew anything about union. Any way I can still remember large groups of private school boys (they knew who he was ) yelling over the fence at him, " we`re coming to get you ". Now I always assumed they meant League not poor Daryl personally.

The reason I relate all this to you , is not because I am tempted to make the same claim as those over excited boys, but because I have  seen through life too much to indulge in such hubris, but cheekily will say " watch this space ". 

Your are on a Rugby League forum after all.🙂

He hasn't made enough posts to be able to read the various "disaster" threads yet. 

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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6 hours ago, The Rocket said:

When the union was on the up over here in the late `90`s and early 20`s the  Radio stations, namely 2UE, started covering the Blediscoe Cup live , and the silly buggers used to put one of their League personalities on the sideline. Their man of choice was Daryl Brohman, as if he knew anything about union. Any way I can still remember large groups of private school boys (they knew who he was ) yelling over the fence at him, " we`re coming to get you ". Now I always assumed they meant League not poor Daryl personally.

The reason I relate all this to you , is not because I am tempted to make the same claim as those over excited boys, but because I have  seen through life too much to indulge in such hubris, but cheekily will say " watch this space ". 

Your are on a Rugby League forum after all.🙂

Indeed, last time I checked this is still a rugby league forum and yes I do know about the local footy seen in Auckland having been involved in local schools and clubs. Whats your knowledge in regards to Auckland rugby league other than working with Islanders?

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8 hours ago, CrushersForever said:

A recent book by Patrick Skene, "The Big O: The Life and Times of Olsen Filipaina", gives a fascinating insight into Pacific Islander culture and migration from the Pacific Islands to New Zealand. This interview with the author is also well worth a listen:

 

That was a good interview and totally agree to the comparison between Graig Bellamy and Graham Lowe in their handling of Pacific Island players.

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On 22/08/2020 at 14:49, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Taumololo is great on the telly

Think he did a thing on The Fan and I thought he came across funnynut humble... For such a colossus of the game its amazing 

Lets hope the NRL do push Pacifica....if Aus/England get more and more competitive nations to play then everyone wins... The clubs included! 

Ooh I’ve not had funnynut humble for years 

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3 hours ago, Taniwha Warriors said:

Indeed, last time I checked this is still a rugby league forum and yes I do know about the local footy seen in Auckland having been involved in local schools and clubs. Whats your knowledge in regards to Auckland rugby league other than working with Islanders?

Crikey I was having a joke with you, not looking for a fight. Anyway I`ve got the `Pedant` to fill me in on the details. His area of specialist knowledge on Mastermind was `Rugby League in New Zealand with a particular Interest in Auckland.`🙂

That is twice you have spelt `scene` as `seen`. Can`t help my self, I am a natural born smart ######. Rhymes with Haas, as in Payne Haas. Jeez,  just noticed that, Payne `in the` Haas. Can`t wait to meet him and tell him that you made that up.😉

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5 hours ago, Taniwha Warriors said:

Indeed, last time I checked this is still a rugby league forum and yes I do know about the local footy seen in Auckland having been involved in local schools and clubs. Whats your knowledge in regards to Auckland rugby league other than working with Islanders?

Rugby Union is the national sport in Samoa and Tonga. It`s natural then, that when Islanders migrate they take their Union allegiance with them. My sense is that over the past half century, once arrived in Auckland they have tended, for class and cultural reasons, more towards League. Taking these countervailing factors together there`s bound to be some push and pull, back and forth. Plus there`s the major problem for League of schools being mostly Union-only.

The number of Islanders in grass roots Aus RL has grown rapidly in the past decade, people moving directly from the islands and indirectly via NZ. This could mean that before long the Samoan and Tongan national sides could predominantly comprise players born in Aus.

 

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7 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

The number of Islanders in grass roots Aus RL has grown rapidly in the past decade, people moving directly from the islands and indirectly via NZ. This could mean that before long the Samoan and Tongan national sides could predominantly comprise players born in Aus.

Tonga already have more players in the international team of Aus or NZ birth than born on the Island. From the Oceania 2019 squad the majority are Kiwi's then Australians with just one lone born Islander being Konrad Hurrell.

Again from the Oceania 2019 squad Samoa are exactly the same the majority are Kiwi then Australian born with again only one with an Island birthright being Newcastle's Mason Lino.

Love it or hate it, and depends if one is sympathetic to the 'heratage rules' it just shows how contrived the WC is as a competition, especially if we look at the personal representing, Lebanon, Fiji, Ireland, Greece, Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, Wales and the Cook Islands, we would only have 5 teams with enough player's to be representing their country of birth.

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8 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Tonga already have more players in the international team of Aus or NZ birth than born on the Island. From the Oceania 2019 squad the majority are Kiwi's then Australians with just one lone born Islander being Konrad Hurrell.

Again from the Oceania 2019 squad Samoa are exactly the same the majority are Kiwi then Australian born with again only one with an Island birthright being Newcastle's Mason Lino.

Love it or hate it, and depends if one is sympathetic to the 'heratage rules' it just shows how contrived the WC is as a competition, especially if we look at the personal representing, Lebanon, Fiji, Ireland, Greece, Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, Wales and the Cook Islands, we would only have 5 teams with enough player's to be representing their country of birth.

Only you could find a negative out of Tonga's emergence as a genuine rival to the big 3 and the genuine benefit they have brought to international RL.

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6 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Love it or hate it, and depends if one is sympathetic to the 'heratage rules' it just shows how contrived the WC is as a competition, especially if we look at the personal representing, Lebanon, Fiji, Ireland, Greece, Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, Wales and the Cook Islands, we would only have 5 teams with enough player's to be representing their country of birth.

I know you are trying to be objective and of course what you are saying is true, but let the non Rugby League loving mob say these things. We should be saying things that legitimises our WC  not calling it `contrived` that only reinforces the knockers.

I have heard it said that we can not grasp the powerful emotions Pacific Islanders have in representing their home nations.

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