St George Illawarra Dragons staff and players were treated to a traditional Tongan feast at WIN Stadium this week courtesy of rising star Finau Latu and his family.
It was the first of a series of cultural celebrations that have been organised by the club at the urging of veteran prop Ben Murdoch-Masila.
Finau was flanked by mum Lupe and sisters Alofi and Melehifo as the family served up ‘otai – a Tongan fruit drink – along with dishes lu sipi, lo’i hoosi, crab salad and taro.
"It was very special today," Latu said.
"I love when my family gets involved. It's just good to see them come in. For the Dragons to reach out to them and make this happen is special.
They put in a lot of work, especially at home. It started yesterday, went all night, woke up this morning still cooking and we're finally here."
The club's Tongan players gathered around during the celebration to speak to the crowd and sing a traditional hymn.
Murdoch-Masila, whose father is Tongan, was thrilled to see his initiative come into fruition.
"A few of the boys were really keen for it," Murdoch-Masila said.
"I thought this would be good as a start, and hopefully it will continue. Today's Tongan traditional stuff, getting some food for the boys to try and see how they like it. Hopefully, we'll get a few more on, and we'll just go through all the cultures that we have here at the Dragons. I think it'll be good for us.
The multicultural nature of rugby league lends itself to these sorts of activities and Murdoch-Masila already has an eye on future events.
"In the team there's a lot of cultures, and especially now it's all mixed as well. Emre (Guler) is here now too, he's Turkish, so that'll be pretty cool. I think his family have a few kebab shops up in Sydney, so that'll be good," Murdoch-Masila laughed.
"It's beaming down here. I'm always happy to help out."
