London Broncos duo Feleti Mateo and Tyrone Smith are in the Tonga team to play
Samoa in Sydney on Friday in a match arranged as part of the build-up to the 2008
World Cup in Australia.
Former St Helens winger Gray Viane, who spent most of the 2005 season with
Widnes, is in the Samoan team, which is coached by former Kangaroo head coach
Chris Anderson, while former London Broncos captain Jim Dymock is joint coach of
Tonga, alongside Royce Simmons, of Wests Tigers.
The match will feature a host of players from Australia's National Rugby
League.
"The number of Polynesian athletes in our competitions is increasing and the
passion they have for representing the nation of origin is strong," said
Australia Rugby League chief executive Geoff Carr.
"We looked at our under-18 elite playing ranks and found that 124 of our best
athletes are of New Zealand background, 66 are Samoan and 41 Tongan.
"By the time of the World Cup in 2008, many of these will be established NRL
players and many more players still will be coming through."
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