{"id":793586,"date":"2026-10-06T09:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793586\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:50:10","slug":"released-super-league-star-in-tonga-2026-world-cup-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/793586\/","title":{"rendered":"Released Super League star in Tonga 2026 World Cup squad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loverugbyleague.com\/club\/leeds-rhinos\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Leeds Rhinos<\/a> and Huddersfield Giants half-back Tui Lolohea is the sole Super League representative in the Tonga squad for this autumn\u2019s Rugby League World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Tonga have named 24 players in their final group for the men\u2019s tournament, with one player set to be omitted before they face England next weekend in their opening group stage game.<\/p>\n<p>But Lolohea is the only Super League-based played to have made the cut \u2013 though there is a plethora of well-known names included.<\/p>\n<p>Tonga name World Cup squad<\/p>\n<p>There are some heavyweights within the squad, including some of the biggest names in the NRL.<\/p>\n<p>They are headlined by Jason Taumalolo, who will play in his final World Cup after being included in the 24-man squad named earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Robert Toia and Jojo Fifita were both believed to be under consideration to play for the Kangaroos this year \u2013 but they have pledged their allegiance to Tonga and are named in Kristian Woolf\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n<p>There are some big absentees including Daniel Tupou and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. However, Keaon Koloamatangi, who played for Tonga four years ago, has instead been called up to represent the Kangaroos this time around.<\/p>\n<p>Tyson Frizell makes history<\/p>\n<p>There is also a momentous piece of international rugby league history in the Tonga squad \u2013 with Tyson Frizell making the cut for a third different team in a World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Frizell played for Wales back in the 2013 tournament held in the United Kingdom, before representing the Kangaroos four years later in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>He did play for Tonga when they toured England in 2023 and he will now once again be part of the Mate Ma\u2019a, this time at a World Cup after being named in the squad: providing he is not the player who is cut.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, it is an historic moment, with Frizell the first player to represent three different nations at three different World Cup tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>Tonga\u2019s squad for 2026 Rugby League World Cup*: Addin Fonua-Blake (Cronulla Sharks), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (New Zealand Warriors), Demitric Vaimauga (New Zealand Warriors), Haumole Olakau\u2019atu (Manly Sea Eagles), Isaiya Katoa (Dolphins), Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland Cowboys), Jojo Fifita (Gold Coast Titans), Talatau Amone (Wynnum Manly Seagulls), Kulikefu Finefeuiaki (Dolphins), Latu Fainu (Wests Tigers), Lehi Hopoate (Manly Sea Eagles), Moeaki Fotuaika (Gold Coast Titans), Paul Alamoti (Penrith Panthers), Robert Toia (Sydney Roosters), Salesi Foketi (Sydney Roosters), Sione Katoa (North Queensland Cowboys), Siua Wong (Sydney Roosters), Soni Luke (North Queensland Cowboys), Stefano Utoikamanu (Melbourne Storm), Taniela Paseka (Manly Sea Eagles), Tolutau Koula (Manly Sea Eagles), Tui Lolohea (Huddersfield Giants), Tyson Frizell (Newcastle Knights)<\/p>\n<p>* One player will have to be omitted ahead of the beginning of the tournament<\/p>\n<p>WATCH THE NEW LRL PODCAST!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants half-back Tui Lolohea is the sole Super League representative in the Tonga&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-793586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}