Josh Aloiai

Loyalty Test: Why Aloiai chose Samoa over Kiwis

Aloiai was named in a wider Kiwis squad ahead of the World Cup and the Manly prop said he had the chance to be one of the 24 players chosen to travel to Auckland ahead of Saturday’s homecoming Test against Tonga, but he decided to commit to Samoa.

In doing so, Aloiai is tied to Samoa for the World Cup, in which the Pacific nation will meet England in the opening match at St James Park as players can only represent one nation during a calendar year - even if they are eligible for another country.

Broken jaw gives Aloiai timely perspective

Aloiai was among several Tigers players to visit Liverpool Hospital's Paediatric Unit on Monday to hand out Christmas gifts donated by club members to kids spending the holiday period in hospital and Aloiai told NRL.com that his own recent hospital stint meant he'd been particularly looking forward to doing something nice for the kids.