Dragons' 123kg giant couldn't make his school team. Now he's set for his NRL debut
A hulking front-rower still in his teens, a member of the St George Illawarra SG Ball side that broke a 32-year premiership drought and a NSW under-19s and Australian Schoolboy representative, it was obvious Pasifiki Tonga had a future in the game.
Upon first laying eyes on him a couple of years ago, dual international Mat Rogers and colleague Craig Clifton certainly thought so. The pair, working together as player agents for Rogers Sports Management, turned up to an Ormeau Shearers match to watch Rogers' son, Jack, play.
On the adjoining field stood an Adonis practising his goal-kicking, nailing shots from the sidelines and halfway. They couldn't sign him to their stable quickly enough.
Yet not everyone who has been part of Pasifiki Tonga's journey – which will culminate in a Dragons debut on Saturday night after stints in birthplace Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland – shared the sentiment.
While studying at Keebra Park – a renowned football nursery that has produced the likes of Benji Marshall, Payne Haas, Reece Walsh, David Fifita, Jai Arrow, Moeaki Fotuaika and AJ Brimson – Pasifiki Tonga tried out for the school's rugby league team.
He didn't make the cut.
'I tried out for the first team and didn't make it for the Allan Langer Trophy team,' Pasifiki Tonga said. 'It came as a shock to me, to be honest. In the trial game I reckon I played good enough to make the team.
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