\u201cThe game was on my wedding night! Made it hard for me to watch it,\u201d says Viliame, who goes by Laka. \u201cIn the video of our wedding reception, there are going to be so many people watching the game on their phones,\u201d Talita adds. \u201cThere was someone on their iPad, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talita, left, and Laka, right, were married in front of a congregation bursting with Tongan pride. Photograph: Joel Pratley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Despite the usual hand-wringing about blowout scorelines between wildly mismatched sides in the pool stage, this year\u2019s World Cup has already produced enough unforgettable moments to lay claim to being the best ever. The tournament opener, where Australia pipped a ferocious New Zealand<\/a> at the death 24-22, was a classic that sold out Allianz Stadium. A fast and courageous Fiji took the Kangaroos all the way<\/a>, going down 36-22 in a result that flattered the defending champions. Tonga made history in their first Cup game, beating England for the first time<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even before the tournament kicked off, western Sydney had well and truly caught World Cup fever. Parramatta Road is a sea of Ford Raptors, delivery vans and garbage trucks bearing Tongan, Samoan, Fijian, Lebanese and New Zealand flags. Team jerseys and national colours are becoming part of the unofficial dress code at church services. Samoa and Penrith Panthers winger Brian To\u2019o broke the internet<\/a> the week the tournament began, ripping his shirt off and doing the splits onstage in front of thousands of Samoa supporters at a fan day in Mount Druitt.<\/p>\n Tonga fans are showing their colours at community gatherings. Photograph: Joel Pratley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Demand for tickets has been so great it has caught organisers flat-footed. A plan to move Sunday\u2019s Tonga-Samoa blockbuster from Commbank to Accor Stadium at Olympic Park, which the NRL believes<\/a> would have brought in 60,000 fans, was only unsuccessful because it would have clashed with pre-booked concerts.<\/p>\n Aisea Taufa, one of the congregation\u2019s lay preachers, says plenty of congregants missed out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe tried to book [tickets for the Samoa game], but we were too late. It sold out two weeks ago,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Supporters who can\u2019t get to games are flocking to off-field fan events instead. Rugby league legends of Lebanese heritage like Hazem El Masri, Tim Mannah and Josh Mansour led thousands of Cedars fans on a march through the Parramatta CBD before the Tonga game, complete with drums and a contingent of Tongan fans joining in the dabke. (\u201cPauline Hanson is in cardiac arrest [right now],\u201d reads one of the top comments<\/a> on the Cedars\u2019 Instagram.)<\/p>\n Brian To\u2019o of Samoa is one of the standout Pasifika players at the 2026 Rugby League World Cup. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the fans marched to the stadium, they marched as a group. We didn\u2019t let Lebanon march by themselves, we all went together,\u201d Laka says. \u201cThat passion, it brings us together as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n While Lebanon are yet to post a win (though hopes are high ahead of their meeting France on Sunday), their fanbase has been one of the most passionate of the entire tournament. Speaking to Triple M after the Tonga game, lock forward Jalal Bazzaz explained why.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Sport in Focus<\/p>\n Our picture editors select their favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Rugby league is one of the few global sports with a large Pasifika representation, inspiring the next generation of players and fans. Photograph: Joel Pratley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cOur little nation, we\u2019ve been through a lot,\u201d Bazzaz said<\/a>. \u201cTo get out there with the boys, the brotherhood, and give a little hope to our little nation, it means the world to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Tongan fans can take more bragging rights than most for this World Cup\u2019s success. It was superstar North Queensland Cowboys forward Jason Taumalolo who breathed life back into international rugby league when he decided to represent Tonga rather than New Zealand at the 2017 tournament. While Taumalolo attracted plenty of criticism<\/a> at the time, he and other Pasifika players who chose to represent their heritage rather than cashing paycheques from Australia or New Zealand kickstarted the Pacific-nation revolution<\/a> that has made this year\u2019s tournament so compelling.<\/p>\n A man wears a patterned Tonga rugby league shirt at a congregation. Photograph: Joel Pratley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201c[Taumalolo] did that to inspire the younger generations who are coming through now,\u201d says Laka. \u201cHe showed that it\u2019s not all about the money. It\u2019s about representing your home country, the place where your family\u2019s from.\u201d<\/p>\n Given Tonga and Samoa\u2019s unbeaten runs, anticipation is at fever pitch ahead of their meeting on Sunday, with fans believing Australia\u2019s decades-long dominance of the international game could be coming to an end.<\/p>\n \u201cTonga can go all the way,\u201d Laka says. \u201cOur defence against England was so solid. With halves like Isaiya Katoa, we can go all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHere on Sunday, it\u2019s gonna be red,\u201d Taufa vows. \u201cThis week, we\u2019re the Church of MMT.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793312529_451_1008.jpg\")
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