Apisai Toga
Personal information
Full nameApisai Toga
Born(1945-11-06)6 November 1945
Nadi, Fiji
Died30 January 1973(1973-01-30) (aged 27)[1][2]
Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1]
Weight16.5 st (231 lb; 105 kg)[1]
Rugby union
PositionLock
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1963 Fiji 3 3 0 0 9
Rugby league
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1964–67 Rochdale Hornets
1968–72 St. George Dragons 65 9 0 0 27
Total 65 9 0 0 27
Source: [3][4]

Apisai Toga (6 November 1945 – 30 January 1973) was a Fijian rugby union and professional rugby league player. After representing the Fijian national rugby union team in 1963, he switched to rugby league and played for the Rochdale Hornets and the St. George Dragons. He played as a lock in rugby union, and prop or second-row in rugby league.

Playing career

Toga was from the Saunaka village near Nadi. Originally a rugby union player, he was part of the Fiji team that won the rugby tournament at the 1963 South Pacific Games, playing three matches and scoring three tries. His brother Sela later also represented and captained Fiji, making his debut the following year.[2]

Rochdale Hornets

He switched to rugby league in 1964, signing for English club Rochdale Hornets.[2] He made his debut for the club on 15 February in a home match against Workington Town.[5] He played right-second-row in the club's 5-16 defeat by Warrington in the 1965 Lancashire County Cup Final during the 1965–66 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens.

St George Dragons

Not liking the weather in northern England,[2] Toga signed for Australian club St George Dragons in 1968, becoming the first Fijian to play in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.[5] He was joined at the club by his brother Inisai Toga the following year.[5] A crowd favorite at Kogarah Oval, he made an immediate impact at the Dragons, and played for five seasons at the club between 1968 and 1972, making 65 appearances and scoring nine tries.[6] He played in several semi finals with St George, but never played in a grand final.

Death

Toga went home to Fiji during the 1972–73 off season, and cut his foot on coral and barbed wire which resulted in him dying of tetanus poisoning on 30 January 1973 after collapsing during a pre-season training run at Carss Park, New South Wales. He had only arrived back in Australia four days before his death. It was later reported that Toga was in convulsions for hours before later dying at St. George Hospital.[1] The news of Toga's death greatly saddened the rugby league community, especially in Sydney. His body was returned to his homeland for burial on the following weekend, accompanied by Dragons captain Graeme Langlands.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Homeland burial for Fijian League Star". The Age. 1 February 1973. p. 24. Retrieved 4 December 2021 – via Google News Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Deaths of Islands People". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 44, no. 3. March 1973. p. 125. Retrieved 4 December 2021 – via Trove.
  3. ↑ "Apisai Toga". ESPN Scrum.
  4. ↑ "Apisai Toga - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  5. 1 2 3 "Hornets fans crown their Greatest Thirteen". Rochdale Online. 22 November 1915. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Dragons Honour Apisai Toga". dragons.com.au. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Toga to be buried in Fiji". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 February 1973. p. 11. Retrieved 4 December 2021 – via Google News Archive.
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