SO LET’S NO T PROD THE BIG BLOKE
NEW Zeal Zealandd h half lf T Te Maire Martin will likely go ducking for cover if North Queensland teammate Jason Taumalolo runs straight at him in a Tonga jumper.
“I’ll try to go backwards, let someone else go forward,” the Kiwis five- eighth said with a wry smile. “Hopefully someone else tackles him.”
The Kiwis have been at pains to avoid poking the 113kg Kiwi- cum- Tongan bear this week, aware that Taumalolo will be his typical rampaging self on November 11 when the two sides play each other in their Rugby League World Cup group match in Hamilton.
The 2016 Dally M medallist provoked outrage on the Shaky Isles two weeks ago, snubbing the land of his birth to play for the land of his ancestry.
R h e t - oric has since softenned inside the Kiwis camp.p.
In stark k contrast to captain Adam Blair’sair’s fighting words last week,week Martin and Thomas Leuluai have taken a diplomatic approach to Taumalolo’s defection.
Neither player took offence to the lock’s decision.
“As much as you’d like Jason to be in your team, how good he runs – I’ve seen how good first hand – he’s made his choice and that’s what he feels is best, so good luck to him and the Tonga team,” Martin said.
“We’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Leuluai, a 36- Test veteran, said he would be happy to welcome Taumalolo back home-
into Kiwis after the World Cup.
He had no issues Taumalolo following heart.
“At the end of the day he’s half- Tongan, half- New Zealander,’’ Leuluai said.
‘‘ So who are we to say he doesn’t want to represent the country of his parents?
‘‘ They’re going to be fired up and we are too.”
Veteran and former Test skipper Simon Mannering is all but certain to cover Taumalolo’s loss at lock, with Joseph Tapine and Kenny Bromwich in the second row. the fold with his