United States rugby league team the Tomahawks shocked the world at the Rugby League World Cup in 2013. In 2014 Toyo Tires, in cooperation with Hendra Discount Tyres has joined with the Tomahawks to help in their mission to take Rugby League worldwide.
With a proud 20-year history, the 2013 USA Tomahawk squad fought their way to their first World Cup and into a quarter final battle with a dominant Australian side, impressing and surprising many who discounted the team’s chances.
Finishing in seventh place to shock dismissive critics, the Tomahawks defeated two top five nations.
Toyo Tires and Hendra Discount Tyres have signed on with the Tomahawks as a jersey sponsor.
Displayed at the recent Wests Mitchelton Nines tournament in Brisbane, the ‘Captain America’- styled jerseys of the Tomahawks are an eye-catching sight on the rugby league field.
Nines tournaments see nine-man squads play intense nine minutes halves in a round robin knockout competition.
The Wests Mitchelton Nines tournament saw 12 teams vying for the $3000 prize pool. These included the Tomahawks and GYG Latin American Heat, along with representatives from the University of Queensland, Logan University and Griffith University, and local clubs like Dayboro and Valleys.
The tournament brought players back together and recaptured the mateship of the rugby league World Cup where teams played together and against each other for six weeks.
The future for the Tomahawks remains bright.
Games are played in the US between amateur sides, with several games against Canada and Samoa scheduled for the middle of 2015. Games against Jamaica and France are also on the cards, as is a tour of Australia.
The Tomahawks are focused on upskilling players and creating a larger global footprint for rugby league in the future.
Continuing to build up to the next World Cup, the Tomahawks’ challenge is to consolidate the hard work from 2013 in the lead-up to the next World Cup and develop more US-based players.
