Pacific Championships: No fear for Tonga ahead of Australia Test

Tongan star Jason Taumalolo has made it clear that his side does not fear Australia ahead of the opening match of the 2024 Pacific Championships on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.

“Not really, to be honest,” the 31-year-old said when asked if there was any concern around facing a strong Australian side.

“They’ve got a great team but so do we.

“It’s what we do on Friday night that matters the most.”

Australia have historically been a dominant force in international rugby league, winning 12 of 16 Rugby League World Cups over the last 70 years.

But in the recently formed Pacific Championships, the Kangaroos have shown themselves to be vulnerable, losing 16-12 to Tonga in 2019 and 30-0 to New Zealand in 2023.

“Competition at international level — not just from Australia and Tonga, but also the other nations — has definitely improved over the last few years,” Taumalolo continued.

“It makes for a greater game of footy.”

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The second-rower’s words caused Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga to return fire.

“That doesn’t worry us — we don’t fear them either,” he said in response to Taumalolo’s comments.

“It’s a game of footy. It is a battle. It’s international status.

“The last time we played against the Tongans they beat us, way back in 2019.

“It’s been a long time since the World Cup in 2017 when we last played at Suncorp.

“We’re coming ready to play and we’ll worry about ourselves.

“That’s pretty smart that they don’t fear us, but we’re coming and we want to play our best footy.”

While both sides are going into Friday’s clash confident, Australia hold a significant edge with top rugby league bookmakers.

The home side is paying $1.14 to win at Neds.com.au, while Tonga are at long odds of $5.75 to cause yet another upset in the Pacific Championships.

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