The players and staff of the Tonga Invitational XIII have called for new governance for rugby league in Tonga ahead of this Friday's celebration of their fantastic performance in defeating the top two teams in the world.

The team returns to Tonga to share the celebration of their victories over the Australian Kangaroos and Great Britain Lions, with the people of Tonga.

Trad McLean, media manager, stated today that the team's efforts came despite a fracture between the team and the Tonga National Rugby League hierarchy, which almost ended in the two test matches being cancelled.

It would have been the loss of the two opportunities that allowed the team to shock the rugby league world with a pair of amazing results.

The Tonga Invitational XIII beat Great Britain 14-6 and then Australia 16-12 in consecutive weekends.

New administration

Tonga Invitational XIII Head Coach Kristian Woolf said the clear path to success at the next Rugby League World Cup, to be played in Great Britain in 2021, was a fresh start with a new administration.

He said the players were so happy to return to Tonga to celebrate with those that they had always been intent on representing, the wonderful people of Tonga.

“The TNRL representatives have had nothing to do with the tests against the Great Britain and Australian Kangaroos teams, and nothing to do with the success of the Tonga Invitational XIII in those matches. They also have nothing to do with the players returning for a celebration of success with the Tongan people."

Woolf said as a group they wanted to underline that what Tongan rugby league needs now is governance reform.

“We have now exhibited our potential on the world stage and to reach that full potential we need new governance."

He said, if we want to reach our full potential at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England, which is to win that tournament, we must have that reform now.

In addition, Tonga Invitational XIII captain Jason Taumalolo re-affirmed the players wanted new leadership, after refusing to play under the TNRL earlier this year.

“The attempts to publicly discredit the players and the staff of the group that represented the Tonga Invitational XIII means that [reconciliation] is out of the question.”