As a player, Tonga was recognised as a powerful front-row forward, He played in the NRL for Sydney Roosters and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and was noted for his damaging running ability.
In his time at both clubs, Tonga played only a handful of NRL matches, and spent most of his time at the Sydney Roosters playing for the club's feeder team, Newtown.
After a wayward youth and a stint in jail on an assault charge, Tonga rose to become an NRL player and a stint coaching the Tongan national side. It was in Woodford Prison as a young man in 2000 that Tonga met former Australian rugby league hooker and pastor Noel Gallagher. The meeting changed Tonga's life. Tonga, now a gentle giant, has said that youthful pride was the problem in his early 20s and when he came out of jail he thought his career as a footballer was finished. A stint in BRL Open 1's with Browns Plains in 2000 (where he would win a Grand Final) followed before his meteoric rise from Easts Tigers to the NRL with the Bulldogs in 2005. Two seasons with the Roosters followed, but re-discovering his roots and helping others became a large part of his life. Tonga won an Ipswich Rugby League title with Swifts in 2011, and retired from playing soon after.
