Darren Lockyer and Cameron Smith single out brutal Isaiya Katoa act after 'clunky' Kangaroos win

Kangaroos legends Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer were left critical of young Tongan halfback Isaiya Katoa 's performance with Australia putting in a clunky display in the opening Pacific Championship game. Australia may have had six debutants on Friday night, but plenty showed their experience to hold onto a 18-0 victory against the passionate Tongans who defended with aplomb throughout the contest.

While the international was highlighted with some bone-crunching tackles, both teams showed they haven't quite clicked with Mitchell Moses and Dylan Edwards in particular struggling to replicate their State of Origin or NRL form for Australia. Lockyer described the Kangaroos' attack as 'clunky' on Channel Nine as coach Mal Meninga blooded a number of debutants in the spine.

And the Kangaroos could count themselves fortunate young halfback Katoa produced a poor display in the No.7 jersey with two grubbers going out for seven tackle sets, while two of his kick-offs went out on the full. The 20-year-old had a break out season in the NRL in 2024 and was rewarded with a jersey for Tonga.

Unfortunately, Katoa had a game to forget with the halfback putting his side under pressure on numerous occasions when the score was only 6-0 and 12-0. Storm legend Smith pointed out the 20-year-old will be a mainstay for Tonga for many years to come, but nerves got the better of him at Suncorp.

"Four kicks of Katoa, outside of those four kicks he had a fantastic match...that maybe just because of the occasion. There was a bit of adrenaline running through his body. He was playing against the Australian side....He is a player of the future," Smith said.

Lockyer was adamant Katoa needed to learn from his mistakes against the Aussies if Tonga were going to reach the next level against New Zealand. "The important thing is he has to learn from tonight. Those kick-offs, he is disappointed, but he has got to go back and practice. And he has got to practice those grubbers to get the feeling right."

Lockyer and Smith were certainly not the only two to pinpoint young Katoa. Many felt Katoa needed help in the spine to see him thrive for Tonga who carry one of the best international forward packs in the game.

While Lockyer and Smith were critical of Katoa, they were also in two minds over the Kangaroos performances. Lockyer felt Meninga would be disappointed with the display having failed to capitalise on good field territory on a number of occasions. The Kangaroos' second-rowers of Angus Crichton and Cameron Murray were arguably the best on ground, but the middle forwards appeared to be out muscled against the hulking Tongan forward pack.

"I think the coach would be disappointed in their complete rate, but defensively they were very good tonight. The Tongans threw a lot at them," Lockyer.

But the continuity with their attack was a bit clunky tonight. First time Moses has played with Tom Dearden, first time Harry Grant has played with Moses, first time Dylan Edwards has played with Dearden. So that will get better as the tournament goes on. But the Tongans, there was a lot to like about their performance."

Mal Meninga defends performance against Tonga

The Aussies didn't gel as well as expected in their first hit-out of the international schedule with debutants Dearden and Moses failing to combine as Meninga would have hoped. Penrith fullback Edwards was also below his best with a number of errors creeping into his game. However, Meninga was adamant the spine just needed time to gel after only a few weeks in camp together.

“We’ll make some decisions over the next few days, but when we talk about the team and it’s such a new team, and being together for the very first time, it would probably give us some serious consideration around playing again and have better continuity in our footy team,” Meninga said.

Menigna admitted there could be a few fresh faces in the team for the New Zealand clash, depending on how some of the players recover. “That’s a possibility, but we’ll see how everyone pulls up out of this game because I know that the guys who missed out have been training really well and been terrific around the camp,” Meninga said. “But we’ll make those tough decisions at a later date.”

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Meninga appeared more content than most with the performance, but reiterated Lockyer's concern with the ball in hand. “I’m very happy, to be honest with you,” Meninga added. “Attitude and intent, defensively outstanding, I felt against that big Tongan side who came ready to play. I’m not quite sure how many tries they stopped, but they were desperate.

“We could play a bit better with a footy, but we’ve got a few debutants there, and particularly in the spine. So really happy with the performance, and really encouraging as far as improving over hopefully the next two games.”