THE captain of England’s opening World Cup opponents Tonga has called for a squad link-up during the NRL season as they seek an upturn in form and fortunes for the big autumn tournament in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
The sides square up in Perth on Saturday, October 17, with both aiming to bounce back from disappointing years.
England were beaten 3-0 in the Ashes amid controversy over the lack of squad training sessions and either a mid-season international or warm-up game, a series outcome which led to Shaun Wane stepping down as coach.
Meanwhile Tonga, coached by Dolphins and former St Helens boss Kristian Woolf, lost to both Samoa and New Zealand in the Pacific Cup.
Woolf regularly meets with players throughout the year, but finding time to assemble a squad during the NRL season is tricky.
There are no standalone representative weekends scheduled, while a number of Tongan stars play State of Origin, making it difficult to get the whole squad together during that period.
Magic Round from May 14-17 in Brisbane seems the best opportunity, and Woolf is looking at ways to make it happen – and is supported by his skipper Addin Fonua-Blake.
The Cronulla Sharks prop told NRL.com: “That would be ideal. But if we can’t get together, we’ll just have to deal with the cards we’ve been given.
“Every team is getting the same amount of preparation, so we can’t use it as an excuse.
“We missed a few core players last year, so if we can get those guys back we’re familiar with how each other play and we’ll get it done in the back end of the year.”
Reviewing the Pacific Cup, Fonua-Blake added: “It’s always a good experience putting on the jersey, but it wasn’t a pass mark for us.
“We took a few steps back with some of our performances but we had a young squad.
“We debuted six players and we can’t do anything to change it now. It’s about what we do next.
“We’ve got a lot more experience in the team now and we’ll get it done in the World Cup.”
Woolf said: “We make adjustments and look at how we can improve every year. We’ve got a few things from last year we can definitely improve on.
“World Cups are a different beast. It’s a competition that’s different from any other, it needs a different level of planning and there will be some changes made for the tournament.
“We’re planning for the World Cup as best we see fit and making sure we get all our preparations right for that.”