Willie Tonga

Willie Tonga made his State of Origin debut in 2004. That same year he won a NRL grand final with the Bulldogs, and emerged as the find of the tour, when the Kangaroos played in New Zealand, England and France in a Tri-Nations campaign.

Tonga, who had represented the Junior Kangaroos in 2002, featured in all six Tests on the tour, culminating with two tries in the 44-4 Tri-Nations final win over Great Britain in Leeds. He played a total of 36 games in that memorable season.

Tonga, whose heritage is Tongan on his father's side and Indigenous on his mother's, was born in Canberra and grew up at Cootamundra, before the family moved to Cherbourg, when he was 13.

Tonga was only 17 when he moved to Sydney in 2002 to play with Parramatta, under the coaching of Brian Smith. Tonga joined Canterbury-Bankstown in 2004, and enjoyed his breakout season, scoring 18 tries in 27 club appearances, as well as one try for Queensland, and three for Australia. He also was named Dally M Centre of the Year.

Tonga signed with the North Queensland Cowboys in 2009, and won back his Queensland spot, after a five-year absence. He entered Origin folklore when he played 63 minutes with a dislocated shoulder in Game I of the 2011 series, at Suncorp Stadium, his courage an inspiration to team mates, with Queensland winning 16-12. Those team mates used the 'Tonga' rallying cry when they were in tough spots in the remaining two matches of the series.

Tonga displayed similar courage in a Test for Australia against New Zealand late in 2011, when he played 50 minutes with serious hip and rib injuries.

He made 60 appearances for the Cowboys and scored 34 tries over three seasons, before returning to Parramatta in 2012, joining two fellow Cherbourg Hornets' graduates, his younger, brother Esikeli Tonga, and Chris Sandow.

Tonga played a further 32 games for the Eels between 2012-2014, before signing with French club, Catalans Dragons in Super League. He moved to England to play with Leigh in 2016.

On his return to Australia in 2018, he looked set to play for Wests in Newcastle, but a knee injury saw him announce his retirement.

He had played 181 NRL games and 25 in Super League; 8 Origin matches and 12 Tests.

I think that should go down in the annals as one of the toughest performances from a Queensland player ever.

Mal Meninga FOG #4

Tonga was named as an interchange player in the all-time Queensland Indigenous side. He has been working with 'Deadly Choices' alongside Broncos' legend, Steve Renouf, who was his inspiration as a youngster in the South Burnett region.