Eli Katoa has been ruled out for the entire 2026 NRL season.
The Melbourne Storm forward was forced to undergo emergency surgery in Auckland after suffering three separate heads knocks playing for Tonga against New Zealand earlier this month.
Eli Katoa is assisted from the field prior to being admitted to hospital.Credit: Getty Images
The 25-year-old is now back in Melbourne, but the Storm’s doctor and neuro specialists met in recent days and decided the safest option was to sideline the player for the entirety of next season to give him the best chance of making a full recovery.
Katoa is contracted to the Storm until the end of 2027.
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The NRL has completed its investigation into why Katoa was allowed to play in the match after TV cameras captured Katoa being knocked out by teammate Lehi Hopoate before kick-off. Katoa then suffered two further head knocks during the match.
Those findings of the investigation are yet to be released.
The Storm will be entitled to cap relief given they have now lost a player for three months or more while he was on representative duty.
More to come