[3] As a player, Tonga was recognised as a powerful front-row forward, He played in the NRL for Sydney Roosters and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and was noted for his damaging running ability.
It was in Woodford Prison as a young man in 2000 that Tonga met former Australian rugby league hooker and pastor Noel Gallagher.
Tonga, now a gentle giant, has said that youthful pride was the problem in his early 20s and when he came out of jail he thought his career as a footballer was finished.
A stint in BRL Open 1's with Browns Plains in 2000 (where he would win a Grand Final) followed before his meteoric rise from Easts Tigers to the NRL with the Bulldogs in 2005.
Tonga is a committed Christian pastor and youth minister who is called "Power Up" in Campbelltown, and works with kids at risk.