Jason Taumalolo's decision to turn his back on New Zealand might have blindsided the Kiwis' management team, but their Australian counterparts knew of the North Queensland superstar's intention weeks in advance.
Taumalolo's defection came as no surprise to the Kangaroos, assistant coach Michael Hagan revealed yesterday.
"I did get information
through a third party a couple of weeks ago that it might happen and obviously that's now been confirmed," Hagan told Radio Sport's Mark Watson. "That's disappointing for New Zealand in one way but I guess from a World Cup point of view, and for Tonga it makes them a lot stronger and it adds a bit of spice to the whole event."
The Australians suffered a similar fate with prop Andrew Fifita's 11th hour switch to Tonga - a move that caught the world champions off guard, Hagan admits.
"We were a bit surprised by that as well. I think he only rang Mal [Meninga, the Kangaroos coach] in the last day or two to inform him. I know that was a difficult choice for him to make, given that he's had to fight his way back into the Kangaroos team which played against New Zealand in Canberra in May," Hagan said.
