Lindsay Collins smashed by Haumole Olakau'atu as Kangaroos hold off plucky Tonga
The Kangaroos have got their Pacific Championship campaign off to a winning start with an 18-0 victory over Tonga.
The match was a physical encounter where the final score doesn't really reflect the quality of the match.
A Tom Trbojevic try from an intercept in his own half was the difference as the two sides hit the sheds, before Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow extended the lead mid-way through the second half.
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Keaon Koloamatangi blew a golden opportunity to kick-start a fightback when he bobbled a put-down with 15 to play, before Tommy Dearden iced the win with a try virtually on full-time.
Kangaroos skipper Isaah Yeo said the Kangaroos still had some cobwebs to blow out.
Tom Dearden scored in the dying minutes to ice the victory for the Kangaroos. Getty
"We made it hard for ourselves in that first half ... really happy to keep them to nil," he said.
"I thought they scrambled well. It was really tight until the last five or ten when we started to get some ascendency.
"A lot to work on, but I thought the way we defended our line was really good."
The tone of the match was set early when Lindsay Collins was crunched by Haumole Olakau'atu. Collins spilled the Steeden and then wore all 112kg of the Sea Eagles enforcer.
As he sucked in the big ones lying on the Suncorp Stadium turf, the boys in the Nine box were wincing and laughing at the same time.
Lindsay Collins was poleaxed by Haumole Olakau'atu in the first half. Nine
"I want my mummy ... poor Lindsay. You shouldn't laugh," Andrew Johns said as replays were shown.
"That's a good old-fashioned fold. Welcome to international footy, Lindsay," Darren Lockyer added.
Andrew Johns suggested Grant might owe Collins a beer or two for delivering the hospital pass that led to the hit.
"He's got me a couple of times now - I must have done something to him. He hits hard that's for sure," Collins told Nine after the match.
"I kind of jinxed myself. I said during the week 'Harry, just hit me, if I get smashed I get smashed', and it ended up happening.
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Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow celebrating his try in the second half. Getty
"It's alright. That's my job. I'll take those ones ... it's part of being a front-rower."
But despite gaining the field position off the Collins error, the Tongans could do nothing with it - in fact it led to the only try of the first half.
From a really flat line, Trbojevic read a pass perfectly, picked off the intercept, and ran away to score. Zac Lomax kicked the conversion, and that remained the difference until well into the second half.
In fact, that Trbojevic try aside, the Tongans were arguably the better side for the first half.
It wasn't until the 52nd minute until the Kangaroos were really able to stamp their authority on the match when Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scored a stunner in the corner.
Quick hands got the ball from Moses to Dearden to Trbojevic and then to Hammer who ran some 30m and shrugged off a stack of defenders to score in the corner.
"He put the right fend up into the chest of Alamoti, get out of my way, found another gear ... wow," Cameron Smith said in commentary for Nine.
Lehi Hopoate was binned for a professional foul not long after, for not getting square at marker.
Cameron Murray was sprinting towards the try line when Hopoate did a great job to bring him down. But the young fullback got up quickly and never got close to getting square and when he put the next tackle on, was sent for a spell by referee Gerard Sutton. The Kangaroos took the extra two.
With the advantage, Tom Trbojevic looked to have scored his second of the night in the corner, but came up shaking his head. Replays showed he'd had the pill knocked from his hands on the way down.
A couple of plays later, Mitch Moses puts a kick miles out on the full.
"That's a mis-kick, that's way out on the full ... the Kangaroos are rattled here," Cameron Smith said for Nine.
The Tongans could sense it too, and the proverbial roof was almost lifted off Suncorp Stadium when Keaon Koloamatangi ran onto a grubber and looked to have scored under the posts.
Unfortunately for the tourists, replays showed there was a clear bobble as he tried to smother the bounce off the grubber.
"The game isn't played in super slow-mo. I'm sick of saying it (but) that's unfortunate. You could see there was a bobble there," Andrew Johns said for Nine.
Cameron Smith said he did everything right, but got done over by the bounce.
"Those stabby little grubbers are always hard to pick up or to judge the bounce," he said.
Keaon Koloamatangi looked to have scored for Tonga in the second half, but replays showed it bounced. Nine
"In a perfect world you try and catch that one or bring that into your chest and dive on it. Unfortunately Koloamatangi couldn't get the ball to the ground."
Tom Dearden iced it for the Kangaroos in the dying minutes.
Tonga captain Jason Taumalolo said he was happy with his side's performance, even if it was a bit rusty.
"It was everything we expected against the Kangaroos. It was tough," he said.
"We kind of threw away a couple of opportunities there. I thought defensively we were pretty sound.
"Overall a bit rusty, but week one down, hopefully we can build on tonight."
