Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula and Welcome to Season 05 Episode 57 of Breakfast Bites by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news on a sunny and bright Tuesday morning 30 May 2023.

Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

And we start with rugby league: NSW Blues Coach Brad Fittler and Captain James Tedesco will face up to Queensland Coach Billy Slater and his Captain Daly Cherry-Evans for a joint appearance in Adelaide today to talk about the opening game of the series at Adelaide Oval tomorrow night.
Penrith Panthers gun Stephen Crichton will replace Latrell Mitchell in the NSW Blues Centres, with Bulldogs playmaker Matt Burton called into their squad as 18th man.

In a statement, the NSW Rugby League confirmed that Mitchell’s calf injury occurred on Sunday, with scans revealing a minor calf strain.

More on Pasifika players in ORIGIN at the end of this podcast!

In football: Chelsea has appointed former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino as their new Manager on a two-year deal at Stamford Bridge with the option of a third year to be taken up by the Club.

He takes charge from 1 July, following Frank Lampard having stayed on as caretaker for the remainder of a disastrous 2022/23 campaign.

Chelsea conducted a thorough managerial search after sacking Graham Potter in early April and held talks with Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann, who withdrew his interest in the job.

Pochettino stood out over several rounds of discussions with the co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali who splashed out a mind-boggling, record-breaking US$500Million cash on player transfers in January 2023, to finish 12th in the Premier League season just ended.

In the NBA: Brittney Griner has returned to play in the WNBA and even US Vice President Kamala Harris attended her LA Sparks vs Phoenix Mercury game on opening night.

That game ended up being the WNBA’s most-watched regular-season cable game since 1999, with 683,000 average viewers, including a record-high one million viewers at its peak.

The WNBA’s historic opening weekend also included a 24 percent increase in attendance and 30m video views, making it the most-viewed opening weekend on WNBA’s social media sites.

In boxing: Having spent time with Sonny Liston as a young fighter coming through the ranks, George Foreman was recently asked how he found Liston to be, “I found him to be such a kind man. Seemed to me he’d give you the shirt off his back. A nice sense of humor as well. Liston was just special,” said Foreman.

ESPN journalist Shaun Assael who wrote a book called “The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights” has attempted to shed light on Liston’s mysterious death for some time now. Having died on 30 December 1970 – according to the coroner’s report - Liston’s body wasn’t found until over two weeks later, on 5 January 1971. His death remains unsolved to this day.

So one question for big George – why has his death remained unsolved all this time if he was such a nice guy?

Okay sports fans on “Background Buzz” today before ORIGIN I in Adelaide tomorrow night, I want to pay tribute to all the Pasifika players in State of Origin thanks to a great article by ABC Pacific islands sports reporter, Ali Almond.
The 2001 Maroons side was packed with so many legends of the game it still reads like a fantasy team — Darren Lockyer, Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor, Paul Green, Allan Langer, Shane Webcke and Gorden Tallis, as well as Coach Wayne Bennett.
This was the first year Petero Civoniceva pulled on a Maroons jersey and, along with fellow Fijian Tuqiri and South Seas Islander Sailor, became a sensation on the field and trailblazers for Pasifika representation in State of Origin.
Today Civoniceva is humbled by the increase of Pasifika heritage players in rugby league’s toughest arena, "The representation was very small back in the early 2000s, but it's a wonderful thing to see the boost as time has gone on. It's something we should all be proud of," he said.
Civoniceva recalls talking to his mum and dad about choosing between Fiji and Australia following his Origin debut when he was also selected to play for Australia:
"My parents said even if I'm playing Origin, or representing Australia, I'm still flying the Fiji flag."
Just over two decades since the likes of Civoniceva, Tuqiri and Sailor led the way, the number of Pasifika players in Origin has exploded.
The players selected this year, along with legacy players for New South Wales and Queensland, brings the number of Pasifika heritage representatives to 54, proving more than one cultural identity can be included and celebrated at the most elite level of rugby league.
State of Origin eligibility is not an open-shop; a player's Origin status was only determined by “where their first senior game was played after the age of 16”.
In 2012 things were tightened — outside a few caveats (like if a players’ parent played Origin) eligibility is determined by if the player lived in New South Wales or Queensland “prior to the age of thirteen”.
Also, a player cannot represent a 'tier-one' country internationally such as England or New Zealand and play for New South Wales or Queensland.
Following success on the world stage there have been murmurs about Tonga and more recently Samoa, advancing to tier-one status, but currently there are no tier-one Pacific Island nations.
Which means, players like New South Wales trio Junior Paulo, Brian To’o and Jarome Luai and Queenslanders such as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow can play Origin football for their state and represent their heritage with Samoa in international play.
The current state of play has not been without criticism, with some accusing Pasifika players of lacking the emotional connection to the jersey that’s required to succeed in State of Origin football.
It's an idea Luai, who will start for the Blues on Wednesday night, after leading Samoa to a World Cup final berth against Australia last year, totally disagrees with.
"It's hard to judge someone's passion," Luai said.
"Any jersey I put on means a lot. To have my last name on a jersey, that's what means the most to me. I don't know how you can judge that."
Queensland second rower and Tongan International David Fifita has been recalled to the Maroons squad this season after missing selection last year and says he is proud of his three identities as a Torres Strait Islander, a Tongan and a Queenslander.
"It means a lot to me to represent Tonga at the World Cup which represents my father, my uncles, aunties and all my cousins and all the Tongans out there that look up to me," Fifita said.
"At the same time, for myself now, I'm so grateful to represent Queensland. I feel so fortunate."
Fifita was born and raised in Brisbane and through his maternal grandmother and mother, he learned to speak their native Torres Strait Islander language.
"I know how to speak full language in my TI side … not many people know that," he said.
Fifita is not alone with this ability in the Queensland camp. Centre Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who is Torres Strait Islander and Samoan heritage is also versed in his Indigenous dialect.
"Me and Hammo (Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow) know how to speak our TI language, we love to talk island to each other."
This year, Tevita Pangai Jnr will become the 54th player of Pasifika heritage to play Origin football since 1980, when Mal Meninga was the first.
For the record, 30 players of Pacific Island heritage have played for Queensland including twelve Samoans, seven Tongans, three from Papua New Guinea, three Cook Islanders, three ni Vanuatu and two Fijians.

And for New South Wales: 23 Pasifika players with thirteen Tongans, five Fijians, four Samoans and one Cook Islander.
You can see a complete list of all these great players in the text below.
Queensland: Petero Civoniceva (Fiji), Xavier Coates (Papua New Guinea), Neville Costigan (Papua New Guinea), Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (Samoa), Dave Fifita (Tonga), Israel Folau (Tonga), Valentine Holmes (Cook Islands), Karmichael Hunt (Cook Islands/Samoa), Antonio Kaufusi (Tonga), Felise Kaufusi (Tonga), Adrian Lam (Papua New Guinea), Brenko Lee (Tonga), Dunamis Lui (Samoa), Josh McGuire (Samoa), Mal Meninga (South Sea Islander), Anthony Milford (Samoa), Francis Molo (Samoa), Dylan Napa (Cook Islands), Jeremiah Nanai (Samoa), Joe Ofahengaue (Tonga), Justin O'Neill (Vanuatu), Josh Papalii (Samoa), Wendell Sailor (South Sea Islander/Solomon Islands), Phillip Sami (Samoa), Jaydn Su'A (Samoa), Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Samoa), Murray Taulagi (Samoa), Ben Te'o (Samoa), Lote Tuqiri (Fiji), Willie Tonga (Tonga)

New South Wales: Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Fiji), Jim Dymock (Tonga), Andrew Fifita (Tonga), Tyson Frizell (Tonga), Payne Haas (Samoa), Jarryd Hayne (Fiji), John Hopoate (Tonga), Will Hopoate (Tonga), Michael Jennings (Tonga), Tevita Pangai Junior (Tonga), Brent Kite (Tonga), Api Koroisau (Fiji), Jarome Luai (Samoa), Willie Mason (Tonga), Junior Paulo (Samoa), Tariq Sims (Fiji), Kotoni Staggs (Tonga), Siosifa Talakai (Tonga), James Tamou (Cook Islands), Brian To'o (Samoa), Anthony Tupou (Tonga), Daniel Tupou (Tonga), Akuila Uate (Fiji), Tony Williams (Tonga)

And that’s a wrap! For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea – please hit the like and subscribe buttons below if you want to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites.

Mahalo, vina’a.