Jillaroos star Sarah Togatuki has revealed ‘she made it her mission’ to give her parents a better life in Australia after the sudden death of her brother Junior.

The backrower – who will feature in Sunday’s historic Test match against England in Las Vegas – selflessly used her rugby league contract money to purchase her parents a house in Sydney.

She then dedicated it to her late sibling.

‘We hit rock bottom when my brother Junior took his own life – it devastated us all,’ the 27-year-old told Wide World of Sports.

‘My mum still mourns him every day. But he didn’t die in vain. He wanted mum and dad to have a better life and I made it my mission to achieve his dream.’

The family of six – Togatuki has three siblings – are now based in Shalvey, in Sydney’s west, along with four adopted kids from Samoa.

Wests Tigers NRLW star Togatuki also knows footy superstars Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton well – and she confirmed both encouraged her to play rugby league.

Born in New Zealand and with Samoan heritage, Togaruki chose to play for Australia as ‘this country has been so good to me.’

Jillaroos star Sarah Togatuki has revealed ‘she made it her mission’ to give her parents a better life after the sudden death of her brother Junior

The backrower – who will feature in Sunday’s Test match against England in Las Vegas – selflessly used her footy contract money to purchase her parents a house in Sydney (pictured)

Sarah Togatuki has also made eight appearances for the NSW Blues dating back to 2020

She added playing at Allegiant Stadium will be ‘amazing’ and the Jillaroos are keen to ‘put on a show for the crowd.’  

Come March 2 in Sin City, English Super League outfits Wigan tackle Warrington from 8:30am AEDT, followed by Canberra against New Zealand at 11am in the first match of a NRL double header to kick-off the 2025 season.

Next is the women’s Test match between the Aussie Jillaroos and England (1pm, AEDT) before Nathan Cleary’s Panthers do battle with the Sharks from 3.30pm.

Meanwhile, Raiders players Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies have fronted the media to apologise following an altercation at their Las Vegas hotel.

The club has confirmed the players were sanctioned over the incident, which occurred due to a room booking mix-up.

The altercation took place after the pair returned from a night out on Thursday.

Young admitted the situation ‘got out of hand’ and expressed regret for his conduct.

‘I want to apologise for the actions on Thursday night. It wasn’t good enough,’ he told reporters.

‘I’m embarrassed for myself, our teammates and the NRL.’

Daily Mail Australia understands both players will not be sent home to Australia.