“Mate, you should come and try it at captain’s run. You feel so gee-ed up!”
NRL.com’s correspondent is sitting in a ground floor meeting room at York’s plush Grand Hotel with Samoa interchange Gordon Chan Kum Tong, newly installed as a social media star for his Siva Tau confrontation with England’s Mikey Lewis last Sunday.
The two interchange dummy halves infamously touched foreheads during the pre-match ritual, Lewis mouthing the words “let’s go” centimetres from the camera.
A bubbly 22-year-old, Manly's Chan Kum Tong is no talismanic Samoan hardman.
He only made his Test debut a year ago. To find his way into the year's most Tik Toked and Instagrammed rugby league reel was not on his radar...
Things got a bit heated during the first Test in Wigan
“We practice it every captain’s run and when we practiced it, I was towards the back … like ‘yeah … nah’," he says with a smile, insisting he was instead excited to be playing alongside childhood friend Izack Tago in Wigan, one of rugby league's most famous towns.
“After the national anthem, the emotions took over and I was like, ‘yeah, I’m gonna do it’, and I somehow ended up in the front and faced off with Mikey Lewis.
“It’s a 'moment' thing, eh? The emotions were unreal, and I could tell there was no tension. We were playing for our country. The Siva Tau is something you do preparing to go to war. Obviously, I was going to war with our brothers.
“I was checking my phone after the game and I was getting notifications like crazy so I’m just trying to stay off it because we’ve got another job to do this weekend."
When 2024 Man of Steel Lewis was recording a video for England digital team on the field at the end of the 34-18 win, Chan Kum Tong walked up and gifted his opponent a necklace.
It was an ula pu'a, "which is a sign of respect", explained Chan Kum Tong. "After the game I went over saying I was grateful to play against him."
The Canterbury junior says he 'grew up watching' Lewis, which is hard to comprehend given the Hull KR star is only a year older at 23.
Chan Kum Tong has just enough pace to get there
But Lewis has played more than 100 first team games, starting in 2019. Chan Kum Tong, with 12 appearances, was only 17 when Lewis took his bow.
"I love his craft in the Super League," the Samoan insists. "I’m still young but I watched his highlights. You look at this resume, he’s done it all, eh?"
The Siva Tau will be the focus of the second and final Test at Headingley on Saturday, with even rugby union identities in Britain drawing attention to it and England winning praise for standing on halfway to meet the ceremonial challenge.
“After the Siva Tau is done, it’s like a mental switch where you go back to mindfulness, which Nigel [Vagana] has brought into this camp," Chan Kum Tong explained.
“We get together, do some box breathing which brings us back down, brings us present, and we go again. It's pretty good ... because obviously emotions are high and it’s like revving a car. You don’t want to over-rev it or you’ll blow up the engine."
A bit of push and shove in Wigan
The oldest of nine siblings - he says he's got so many brothers and sisters it's difficult to count off the top of his head how many there are of each - and already a dad, Chan Kum Tong reflects: "Everything's happened so quickly, and I just had to soak it up so fast.
"Growing up as a Polynesian kid you always dream of putting on a jersey for your country and to do so ... I was actually star struck, couldn't believe it," he said.
"For me to debut was a reward, a payback to my parents. They've obviously sacrificed a lot for myself, taking me to training, taking me to games.
“It’s my first time in the UK and the atmosphere was amazing. I couldn’t believe it. Just from the start of the game, you could really feel the emotions of both teams.
“I’m really enjoying my stay here in York. There’s heaps of history with the chapel [York Minster], the walk, the bridge, that wall behind us. It’s unreal. I’m just trying to embrace it because it’s a once in a lifetime experience."
One last game for the squad was proceeded by one last captain's run. And no, there were no reporters doing the Siva Tau.
