George Tupou V of Tonga for the purposes of assuring that political independence and neutrality were retained. On 24 February 2012, he visited pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City. During his reign, George Tupou V oversaw reforms within the Tongan honours system which both expanded the number of Orders in the Kingdom and created rules to make the award of these Orders more egalitarian. In September 2011, Tupou V had surgery to remove a kidney following the discovery of a tumour. On 15 September 2011 he received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary from Pál Schmitt,
Tame Tupou League tribunal allowed the club to exercise a clause in his contract which stated that the player's contract could be terminated if he was unable to play or train for a 26-week period in any one year. In July 2009 it was announced by Bradford that Tupou had signed for the Wests Tigers in the NRL competition with immediate effect. Tupou failed to make any appearances in the 2009 or 2010 seasons due to his on going battle with knee injuries. Tupou retired in 2010 due to his constant injury problems. Tame Tupou Siokatame Gary Tupou also known as Tame