Tongan rugby league stars Lesley Vainikolo and Tevita Vaikona, were due to return home to Tonga at the end of the year, after helping their British club side, Bradford Bulls, to an unprecedented trio of Super League trophies.

The Bulls became the first side since the inception of the Super League in 1996 to take the Powergen Challenge Cup, League Leaders Trophy and Championship, when they beat Wigan Warriors 25-12 in front of a capacity 65,000 fans at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club.

Lesley Vainikolo, known as "The Volcano"...‚ finished the year as leading try scorer in top flight rugby league in the Northern Hemisphere with a total of 28 touchdowns, while Tevita Vaikona added a further 19 en-route to the Yorkshire side's clean sweep of major honours.

After beating the Wigan Warriors in the final, Vainikolo, a former New Zealand Junior Sprint Champion, said "Tonight is right up there alongside any of the achievements so far in my career, it was a fantastic atmosphere and a great victory. We trailed for much of the first half but didn't panic and were always confident that we could come through in the end."

Vainikolo said last year, his first in Britain, was a difficult one for him, but everyone at the club had helped. "This year I like to think I've paid back the faith everyone showed in me," he said.

Meanwhile, Tevita Vaikona, who has played in Britain since 1998 and was possibly deprived of a place in the Tongan rugby union World Cup squad by his Super League commitments, planned to watch the world cup matches in Australia on his way home
" I may still get a call to join the squad, although there is only one pool game to go, but I'm keeping my phone switched off until after we've finished celebrating this win."

Both Tongan stars are due to rejoin their Bradford colleagues in time to take on Australian NRL Champions, Penrith Panthers, in the World Club Championship in England next February.