TITANS centre Esi Tonga has broken a six-month silence on the boozy night out that sent his 2009 NRL season spiralling off the rails.
A refocused Tonga told The Daily Telegraph "I had to earn back the boys' trust" after a night of celebrations with his brother, Cowboys and Maroons star Willie, in August.
It led to the 22-year-old being axed by the Gold Coast's senior playing group when he failed to front for his team's recovery session after their round-21 loss to North Queensland.
Speaking for the first time about the incident, a candid Tonga declared his teammates got it right by dropping him.
"It was my fault, that was very disappointing for me and my family as well but I'm looking up now," Tonga said. "I definitely had to earn my spot back and earn the boys' trust, and the coach's trust, again. I think I did that with a few good games [last August] in Queensland Cup."
But Tonga's horror end to his revelation '09 season continued three weeks later with a dislocated shoulder in his return NRL game ending his season.
"It was definitely a disappointing end to the season for me," he said.
"I've been working really hard in the pre-season and the boys have seen that I've really been trying to get back into it. Hopefully that'll pay off when it comes to the trials."
Source: heraldsun.com.au
