Tonga assistant coach Dean Young believes the side is primed to carry out a historic victory in the Pacific Championships final on Sunday.
The Australian Kangaroos and Tonga will battle for the Pacific Cup after finishing top two in the standings.
Tonga heads into the match the fan favourites after stunning scenes in Auckland saw them defeat the Kiwis 25-24 to book their place in the final.
Speaking to 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio from camp, Young did not downplay the chance for Tonga to win its first piece of silverware.
“It’s been a really enjoyable camp. We’ve performed well in this tournament,2 he said.
“Although we didn’t get the result we wanted against Australia in the first game, we felt like we did a lot of good things in that game and took some key learnings out of it for the next one against the Kiwis, and got away with a one-point win there.
“It’s a great opportunity on Sunday to go out there and show our fans — and not only our fans but ourselves — what we’re made of and we’re looking forward to it.”
Reflecting on how the international game has expanded since rugby league’s Pacific revolution at the 2017 World Cup, Young acknowledged the sacrifice from past stalwarts that has gone on to inspire players to represent their heritage.
“I’ve been involved in this team since 2019 and when I think of Tonga I think of sacrifice,” he said.
“That started with Sika Manu and Jason Taumalolo, and then Andrew Fifita.
“I remember Andrew Fifita knocking back [the opportunity] to play Origin when New South Wales Origin payments were about $30,000 a game. So, he could have played the three games in that series and he walked away from $90,000 to represent the small country of Tonga and it’s just grown ever since that.
“[Coach] Kristian Woolf has done an incredible job, along with the playing group, to get Tonga into the position where we’re now playing Australia in the Pacific Championships final.”
A former Dragon, Young is also an assistant coach under Shane Flanagan at St George Illawarra.
With Clint Gutherson set to join the Dragons on a three-year deal after being officially released by the Eels on Thursday, Young was unwilling to shed any light on the situation.
“I’m not sure [Gutherson’s signing with the Dragons] is confirmed yet,” he said.
“I speak to Shane quite regularly but he hasn’t told me that that’s confirmed.
“My focus at the moment is to do my best to prepare the Tonga boys to go out there and put on a good performance on Sunday. Once that’s done, I’ll go back to training with the Dragons.”
Pressed further as to how the Dragons could use Gutherson, Young did not submit to the rumours.
“I’ve had lots of discussions with Shane but I’m not going to be telling anyone what those discussions are about. That’s a private matter and everyone will find out in due course.”
In its first game, Tonga was handed a heavy 18-0 loss by the Kangaroos in Brisbane. Australia and Tonga will meet again in the final at 4.05pm AEDT on Sunday in Sydney’s west.