It has only been a few months since Eliesa Katoa had to have emergency surgery after suffering a brain bleed, but the Tonga star has declared his desire to return to play.
The 26-year-old said he’s glad to be alive after he received three sickening head knocks while representing Tonga at the Pacific Championships last November.
He was subsequently ruled out of the entirety of the 2026 season, but has returned to training with the Storm – though he still remains out of contact drills.
It may be a long way off, but Katoa remains positive about his future in the sport as he does everything to keep his NRL career alive.
”There’s still a few appointments to go through,’ Katoa told Channel 7’s Agenda Setters.
‘But at the moment, I’m just taking it week by week and just listening to all the coaches, what they need me to do – whether it’s run another 1.2km every week, I’m just doing whatever the team needs me to do at the moment.
Eliesa Katoa has vowed to return to the NRL despite suffering a brain bleed in November
Katoa said he was lucky to be alive after needing multiple surgeries
The 26-year-old was on the receiving end of three sickening head knocks before being taken to an Auckland hospital
‘I think everyone knows, I was lucky enough to play for Tonga and were playing Kiwis.
‘I got three head knocks so I had blood on my brain. I went to the hospital, had a few surgeries on it and I’m still recovering from that.’
There have been significant concerns over Tonga’s process following the news of Katoa’s brain bleed and subsequent surgeries.
But the two-time Dally M backrower has refused to point the finger at those in charge of protecting him.
The first significant head contact came in the pre-game warm-up at Eden Park, but it was not reported to the coaching box.
He then took two further significant knocks to the head during the game and suffered a seizure on the side of the field.
That led to Katoa having emergency surgery in an Auckland hospital.
What followed was significant criticism and questions about the management of head injuries; not only from the individuals who were supposed to keep the player safe, but for the game as a whole.
Despite all that external noise, Katoa has not taken the same approach, ‘I’m the sort of person that what happened, I sort of just leave and move away and move forward,’ he said.
‘Obviously my goal is just to come back and play and there’s no point for me to look back and try to see what should have happened and we could have done better.
‘It’s already happened and lucky enough I’m still alive.
‘My next goal is focusing on what I can do to come back and play the game again.’
Katoa has since returned to Storm training as he does everything he can to make a return to action.
He was full of praise for head coach Craig Bellamy and his club for the support he has received since the injury.
The two-time Dally M backrower has also refused to point the finger of blame at those responsible for his safety despite the severity of his injuries
‘There’s a lot of support around me, obviously with Melbourne and the medical staff and obviously the boys and the coaching staff as well, which has been so good for me and I’m really grateful for that.
‘The support that he [Craig Bellamy] has done for me, I can’t thank enough.
‘Like I said, not only just him, but from the club and everyone here in Melbourne here, it’s been huge and I’m so grateful for that.’
Despite all of his hardwork, Katoa knows that the decision won’t be his and will rest with the advice of neurosurgeons and medical professionals.
‘Yeah, look it’s going to be tough,’ he said.
‘There’s a lot of things going into it. If you talk about yes or no answers here, I’m thinking about my family as well – the people that I do what I do for them.
‘But for what I’m doing now, it’s just controlling of what I can do, whether it’s getting flogged at training all the time and doing the blue shirt and helping out the boys.
‘I know if I just do my bit, the thing that I can control, and hopefully that can go a long way.
‘But in terms of that, we don’t know the answers yet, but let’s just hope for the best.’
