Tom Dearden has shown he belongs in the do-or-die environment of Test rugby league after standing tall and leading Australia to a 20-14 Pacific Cup final victory over Tonga.
In front of a pro-Tongan crowd of 28,728 at CommBank Stadium on Sunday, the Kangaroos made amends for last year’s final, when they suffered their biggest ever defeat at the hands of New Zealand.
Tom Trbojevic caught two tries in the middle but it was Dearden who shone brightest as he outshone halfback Mitchell Moses in his own half, showing a ruthless edge to exploit Tonga’s defensive lapses.
If not for injuries to Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster, the North Queensland playmaker could have been relegated to a supporting role during this tournament.
But his man-of-the-match performance against Tonga has given Mal Meninga a major headache as he looks ahead to next year’s Ashes series against England.
Australia were crowned Pacific Cup champions on Sunday afternoon after beating Tonga 20-14.
Tom Dearden sent a great message to Mal Meninga and showed that he can perform at the Test Match stage
“His confidence has grown over three games and his belief that he belongs on this field,” Meninga said.
‘He belongs in that number 6 shirt and was outstanding today.
“But it’s all about Tom, believing in Tom and once he gets that on a regular basis he’ll be a fantastic player.”
“Sometimes it takes a while for players to believe they belong in this environment.”
The Tongans, fresh from last week’s surprise victory over the Kiwis, threatened to cause another blowout when they scored with seven minutes remaining to reduce the gap to six points.
But Kristian Woolf’s team lacked the same level of composure as their Australian rivals after taking an early lead.
“I’m very proud of our guys, I thought our effort was outstanding and that’s all I can ask for,” Woolf said.
“There were chances that we wouldn’t get it right and that makes it a little different. We just didn’t execute it at all.”
Tom Trbojevic also impressed, scoring two tries during the match to help seal the victory.
Xavier Coates had a magical moment to score in the corner for Australia
Halfback Isaiya Katoa was the architect of his team’s opener in the sixth minute, advancing across the field to set up Sione Katoa, who sent the anthem-singing Tongan crowd into a frenzy.
Tonga’s number 7 failed to make the conversion and soon after was off line again with the boot, giving Australia the opportunity to post a response.
Trbojevic swallowed a bomb in the final innings and the Kangaroos raced down the field with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow landing in the corner.
“I’m very proud of Isaiya for this tournament,” Woolf added.
“He hasn’t done everything well and he is a very hard marker on himself.”
“He’s only going to get better with this and I’ve seen the way he’s grown throughout this tournament.”
After Tongan winger Daniel Tupou had a try disallowed for obstruction, the Kangaroos settled and advanced further when Lehi Hopoate was hauled into his own in-goal.
In the next set, Australia went left through the lively Dearden and found Xavier Coates in the corner.
Dearden was the architect of Australia’s next game as the North Queensland playmaker outplayed Taniela Paseka and Soni Luke in center field.
Trbojevic dropped back to support and landed under the posts.
The Manly defender was stopped twice in the final two minutes of the first half by the Tongan defense which limited the Kangaroos’ half-time lead to 14-4.
Tonga suffered great pain at the end of the match, after having come back late in the match.
The Kangaroos celebrated on the field at full time after making amends for their huge loss against New Zealand in last year’s final.
But any glimmer of hope that Tonga could return to the game was quickly dispelled when center Paul Alamoti suffered a tackle with a dislocated elbow.
Sensing that Alamoti was vulnerable, Dearden showed great awareness to attack the gap where the Tongan center should have been defending to send in Trbojevic for his second.
Australia almost took the game until Tui Lolohea sent a powerful shot into the goal that was intercepted by Haumole Olakau’atu.
Eli Katoa went down in the 73rd minute to reduce the Kangaroos’ lead to six points, but Tonga were unable to deliver the final blow to take the match to golden point.
