Super Rugby
Reds will take time with Tongan Thor
ESPN Staff
December 2, 2014
Quade Cooper and 'Tongan Thor' Taniela Tupou pose for a photo after Brisbane City's win, Brisbane City v Queensland Country, National Rugby Championship, Ballymore Oval, Brisbane, September 28, 2014
Quade Cooper and 'Tongan Thor' Taniela Tupou © Getty Images
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Taniela Tupou, the schoolboy YouTube sensation better known as 'Tongan Thor', seems set to play club rugby in Brisbane rather than Super Rugby with Queensland Reds next season.

Tupou joined the Reds after YouTube clip of him playing schoolboy rugby in Auckland went viral, prompting leading clubs around the world thronged to signed him. New Zealand Rugby wanted to keep him, but Tupou was unable to play for the national schools team because he did no hold a New Zealand passport after moving to Auckland in 2010. He eventually decided to chase his future in Australia, where he has family, signing a two-year development contract with the Reds in September.

Tupou trained with Reds this week, when Reds coach Richard Graham said the player had "a work ethic and determination … which is positive because he's heading into technical work that is far more advanced than anything he did at schoolboy level".

But Graham has moved subsequently to suggest that Tupou was unlikely to make the Super Rugby squad in 2015.

"What you've seen are raw physical qualities in that YouTube clip, and certainly that's a strong starting point, his ability to play rugby," Graham said on Network Seven.

"The true champions have humility, they understand that they need to get better and they need to progress, and he's got those qualities."

Tonga-raised Tupou, who grew up supporting the Wallabies as they featured some Tongan players, said this week that his "goal now is to try and play for the Reds as soon as I can".

Taniela Tupou rampaged through Auckland schoolboy rugby this year © Getty Images
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