NRL greats Matty Johns and Mark Geyer have been critical of how Tonga’s rise as a major rugby league player has been handled, questioning why little has been done to raise the profile of the Pacific Island nation.

Tonga emerged as a genuine threat to established powerhouses at last year’s World Cup when, led by representative stars who had switched allegiances, it came within a game of making it to the final.

North Queensland wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo shocked the footy world when he pledged his loyalty to Tonga before the tournament, turning his back on New Zealand, who he had already played 10 Test matches for. NSW and Australian prop Andrew Fifita did the same, snubbing the Kangaroos to play for Tonga and honour his father’s heritage.

Tonga became the feel-good story of the Cup after defeating Samoa, Scotland, the Kiwis and Lebanon to surge into the semis, before it suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss to England.

Classified as a Tier Two nation below England, New Zealand and Australia, Tonga’s campaign — which was as much about its inspiring pre-match war dances and parochial fans as it was about its results — led to calls for it to be promoted to Tier One status.

In a survey of more than 4400 league fans by The Daily Telegraph, 82 per cent of respondents said they wanted to see Tonga become a Tier One country, and Johns has questioned the lack of action taken to make that a reality.

“I just want to talk about what was one of the stories of last year, and that was the World Cup and in particular Tonga,” Johns said on the Triple M Grill Team.

“Eighty-two per cent have said yes (to becoming a Tier One nation). What have we done since that World Cup? The league and all these people have been talking about, ‘What can we do with Tonga?’ and bugger me, nothing has been done.”

Tonga wants to play Australia at the end of the year but have faced obstacles to making that happen. New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) rejected Tonga’s request to face the Kiwis at the end of the season and the NZRL also vetoed Tonga’s request to play the Kangaroos in Auckland because of concerns it would detract from the Kiwis’ clash against their trans-Tasman rivals the week after.

It’s a stance that has infuriated Johns.

“They’re saying at the end of the year Australia vs Tonga has been blocked in a lot of ways by New Zealand because New Zealand are saying if they put that on over in New Zealand the week before New Zealand (plays Australia) it’ll affect their crowds,” Johns said.

“Honestly, I cannot believe it. It’s just ridiculous.”

Tonga played Samoa in the Pacific Test during the Origin period but ex-NSW prop Geyer said that wasn’t sufficient exposure for a country that deserves more time in the spotlight.

“It’s another head scratcher. We played that token Test match at Campbelltown earlier in the year when the Origin was on but that’s not enough,” he told the Grill Team. “We’ve got to say, ‘Here’s the schedule for the end of the year. Tonga will be playing both Australia and England in a three-way Test series out here at Suncorp or blah, blah blah.’

“We’ve got to have something in place for them.”

Geyer said if New Zealand wasn’t happy hosting a match between the Kangaroos and Tonga, then it should be played in Australia instead, calling it a “no-brainer”.

Earlier this week Fifita called for Tonga to be shown more respect.

“Surely after a great World Cup campaign, a great Pacific Test and the loyalty shown by my fellow Tongan Toko’s (Brothers) and myself, we would see more games come our way. In fact, that we would get more opportunity against tier 1 Nations,” Fifita wrote on Instagram.

“I guess the fans will have to wait for another whole year for @tonganrl team to make another appearance. I personally feel like use (sic) are testing our loyalty and wanting us to break so we can go back to having 3 Dominate (sic) nations. I don’t understand why?

“But, as you seen in the past, we are loyal and waiting! For an opportunity to build our international game and our team for the next World Cup. So all we ask is for a more Games. We don’t care about MONEY or who we verse. We just wanna be known as a strong International Team. So Get Us A Game Please!”

Tonga coach Kristian Woolf said it was frustrating to be stuck in limbo, criticising New Zealand’s handling of the situation. Woolf said Tonga playing in New Zealand could only benefit the profile of the sport, which would be a positive for everyone.

“Our first option was that we wanted to play against New Zealand but it was very clear early on that that was not going to happen,” Woolf said, according to Radio NZ. “And as soon as I mentioned it to (Australian coach) Mal Meninga it was something that he jumped at straight away and he’s really pushed it and really helped the process along the way.

“When it came to New Zealand it’s certainly been a bit frustrating.

“Even though it didn’t include a New Zealand team I thought it was a real positive for rugby league in the country, therefore I thought it was a positive for us to play over there again regardless of who we were playing.

“There’s been a lot of roadblocks put in the way and it’s a funny one because everybody that you talk to — whether it be a general fan or people who can act on it — tells you that it’s a game that they want to see and a game that everyone wants to happen but everywhere we turn there seems to be roadblocks put up so it’s very frustrating.”

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg is keen on seeing Tonga play but said finding a venue and making it “financially viable” were the tough parts.

“For a game to go ahead you need support from a local government, you need support from a stadium and it needs to be financially viable,” he said.

“And the later that goes obviously that decreases your opportunity to sell it a little bit as well, or to promote it. That, from my understanding, is the biggest hurdle at the moment.

“I have been told through the Queensland Government and through Suncorp Stadium there’s some interest there and some support there as well but I’m not sure what the actual figures are that are holding up the game.”

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