KITE WANTS FLYING START AGAINST BRAVEHEARTS By Ian Templeman Tonga captain Brent Kite says his team will be carrying the hopes of a nation when they face Scotland in their opening game in World Cup Group C at Workington next Tuesday. The Tongans come into the tournament with their strongest ever squad, and a growing expectation back home that they will progress to the knock out stages of the World Cup for the first time The Tongans spent a week in their own country and a few days in New Zealand as part of their preparation for the tournament, and Kite believes they can draw strength from the support they received from their fellow countrymen when they take on their group stage opponents. “A lot of our extended preparation involved getting around and meeting and greeting people, including the Crown Prince”, said Kite. “You could feel pressure if you just went off the expectation of the people, you could see what it means to them and the joy it brings to them to have their national team in the country. But weve got to feed off that passion they have, and hopefully that Tongan pride and spirit can be used in a positive way. “Its not so much (that it is) pressure, its just that the whole nation is behind us, and that can only be good”. The Tongans come into the tournament without having played a warm up game, but Kite insists that won’t be a disadvantage to them. “We had extended preparation in Tonga for a week, and then a few days in New Zealand, so it should mean we will come together pretty well, it feels that way now”, he said. “We have had to ramp up our training and get some real intensity in those sessions, which I think we have done, so hopefully it (lack of game time) is not going to be an issue”. The Tonga squad boasts 11 regulars from Australia’s NRL, including Kite himself and his NRL grand final rival Daniel Tupou from Sydney Roosters. With only three NRL players likely to feature for Scotland, it means that the Tongans are going into the game against largely unknown opponents, but Kite insists that won’t be a problem for them. “We are more inward looking, we’ll be building on the things we do well and let Scotland deal with that”, said Kite. “But at the same time, knowing about their key players is an important part of any preparation, so well be looking at those guys and studying their strengths and weaknesses. “The more you know about the opposition, the better chance you have of beating them. They (Scotland) dont have a great deal of players playing in the NRL, so our guys havent seen a lot of them. “But we know our coach (Charlie Tonga) is really studious, he will have the background checks done and hopefully he will have the right game plan to beat them”. Scotland v Tonga is at 8pm on Tuesday at Derwent Park, Workington. Limited standing tickets are available via rlwc2013 The game will be broadcast live on Premier Sports TV, BBC Five Live Sports Extra and on BBC Radio Cumbria (also available in Dumfries & Galloway).
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 12:22:57 +0000
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