The national rugby league team will visit Tonga next month for the first time in six years ahead of the Pacific Championships.

Coach Kristian Woolf confirmed the squad, led by co-captain Jason Taumalolo, will be in Tonga from 14–18 October as the nation marks 150 years since its constitution was signed, before flying to Brisbane to face Samoa at Suncorp Stadium on 26 October.

“The trip is vital for our younger players,” Woolf told AAP. “A lot of them haven’t been to Tonga and still have grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts that are there. It is great for them to get back and connect with their family. It is a different lifestyle there and they will get a real idea of what we play for and who we play for.”

The squad last visited in 2019, shortly after historic wins over Great Britain and Australia in New Zealand. Taumalolo was celebrated as a national hero and even gifted land from his mother’s village nobles.

Rising halfback Isaiya Katoa and newcomers Robert Toia, Leka Halasima and Stefano Utoikamanu will experience their ancestral homeland for the first time, adding emotional weight to Tonga’s Pacific Championships campaign.