Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has made a shock admission about Eli Katoa‘s potential NRL comeback, as the star forward continues his recovery from a serious brain injury. Katoa was ruled out of the entire 2026 season after undergoing brain surgery late last year, having been rushed to hospital after successive head knocks while playing for Tonga in the Pacific Championships in November.
The 25-year-old has since returned to training with the Storm and has been working closely alongside Melbourne’s coaching staff. It had been suggested that Katoa was working towards a long-awaited comeback to the NRL in 2027, but Bellamy made the bombshell admission on Channel Seven’s Agenda Setters rugby league program on Monday night that Katoa may never play again.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy admits he’s unsure whether Eli Katoa will ever play in the NRL again after the star forward underwent brain surgery last year. Pic: Getty
“He’s doing really well at the moment,” Bellamy said after being asked about Katoa’s recovery. “I don’t know if he’ll play next year… I don’t know if he’ll play again. The doctors haven’t made that decision, and I don’t know when that decision will get made to be quite honest.
“I imagine after a certain amount of time he’ll have more tests and go from there. It was a major injury, and we want him to live the rest of his life in a normal way, so fingers crossed. But we’d love to have him back playing footy and playing with us. He was one hell of a player. Last year he won our player of the year.”
Eli Katoa given a role to help develop the Storm’s forwards
Bellamy’s admission certainly comes as a major shock. But the veteran coach went on to explain the role Katoa has been playing with the Storm’s coaching staff to help develop some of the club’s forwards, such as Cooper Clarke, Joe Chan and Ativalu Lisati – who have really stood up in the absence of their star teammate.
“We’ve given him a role with our edge back rowers to take them under his wing – young Cooper Clarke,” Bellamy said. “We have to give Eli a lot of wraps for that – even with Joey Chan and Valu (Lisati), he’s helped them out a whole heap as well. That’s the good news.”
Sidelined Storm star Eli Katoa (L) has been working closely with Melbourne’s forwards such as Joe Chan (R) to help develop their games. Pic: Getty
Bellamy’s update on Katoa comes just a month after the 2025 Dally M second-rower of the year explained that his recovery was going well and he hadn’t given up hope of making a comeback to the NRL. “I just want to let everyone know that I’m healthy now,” he said on the Storm’s website. “I’ve been training hard the last two or three months with no symptoms, so I’m going great at the moment.”
The Storm’s depth will be further tested for Saturday night’s clash against the Cowboys in Townsville, with Lisati now expected to be sidelined for four weeks with a calf injury. Melbourne are looking to bounce back from their Round 3 loss against Brisbane, which marked the Broncos’ first win at AAMI Park in 10 years.