Loko Pasifiki Tonga Seeks NRL Release Amid Dragons' Struggles
Loko Pasifiki Tonga has had enough of waiting.
The highly rated St George Illawarra Dragons prop has asked for permission to test his value around the NRL, frustrated after being overlooked yet again by coach Shane Flanagan despite the club’s winless start to the season.
Rising star stuck on the sidelines
The Dragons are zero and six. A shake-up felt inevitable heading into this weekend’s clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs. It never came.
Aside from a forced change in the centres, with Moses Suli sidelined through injury, Flanagan has kept faith with the same group. Loko Pasifiki Tonga is not in it.
His omission is all the more jarring given his form in the NSW Cup. Last weekend he rumbled through 252 metres, crossed for a try and piled up almost 80 post-contact metres. Dominant numbers. Not enough, though, to crack first grade.
Tonga played ten NRL games last year. This season, he hasn’t logged a single minute in the top side.
Tension reaches breaking point
Zero Tackle has reported that the young prop has been unhappy for several weeks as the selections continued to go against him. On Tuesday, the situation escalated.
News Corp revealed that Tonga’s management formally requested permission for him to explore options at other clubs, a clear sign the 22-year-old is no longer content to simply bide his time.
The complication is his contract. Tonga re-signed with the Dragons last year through to the end of 2027, tying him to the Red V for this season and next. Without a release, he can’t officially test the open market until November 1.
Dragons dig in, deadline looms
St George Illawarra are understood to have no appetite to let him walk. They see him as part of their future and are standing firm, at least publicly.
But the calendar tells a different story. If a club is prepared to move and the Dragons soften their stance, Tonga could yet be wearing different colours before the June 30 transfer deadline. Any deal would have to be struck within that window.
For now, he remains on the fringe of the 19-man squad, close enough to taste it, far enough away to seek a way out.
Crowded path to the middle
Part of the squeeze comes from the Dragons’ production line of young forwards. Hamish Stewart, the Couchman brothers and Dylan Egan have all made statements at various stages, pressing their claims and eating into opportunities.
Jacob Halangahu, another forward hovering around the extended squad alongside Tonga, is also regarded as a rising talent.
Even in that company, many within the game see Loko Pasifiki Tonga as potentially the pick of the bunch — a junior Origin representative who helped drive the Dragons’ drought-breaking SG Ball title in 2024 and now finds himself stalled just as his career should be accelerating.
The question now is simple: will his breakthrough come in the Red V, or will the NRL get to see his next step in someone else’s jersey before this season is out?
