{"id":111665,"date":"2025-09-01T21:27:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T21:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/111665\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T21:27:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T21:27:05","slug":"isaiya-katoa-confirms-scary-detail-in-dolphins-poaching-from-penrith-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/111665\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaiya Katoa confirms scary detail in Dolphins’ poaching from Penrith Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

So prodigious a talent is Isaiya Katoa<\/a>, the 21-year-old Dolphins<\/a> halfback who’s rapidly become an irresistible favourite of Andrew Johns’<\/a>, that the NRL<\/a>‘s newest club signed him before even watching him play in the flesh.<\/p>\n

On the day of Katoa’s 18th birthday, February 18, 2022, the Dolphins confirmed a whisper going around when they said in a statement that they had signed the highly rated Panthers junior.<\/p>\n

In a one-on-one chat with rugby league journalist Michael Chammas on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night, Chammas asked if it was true that the Dolphins signed him with only a highlights video and word of mouth to go by.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Walsh films himself drinking toilet water; Broncos condemn stunt<\/a><\/p>\n

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“Yeah, it is,” Katoa smiled.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty crazy when you think about it because they’re taking a chance on a kid that they haven’t watched play live. They’re just, I guess, going off talk and one highlights video.<\/p>\n

“I think the first time they watched me live was the following year, and that’s after the contract had already been signed. So whether they watched me live and didn’t like it, it was probably a little bit too late,” he added with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Isaiya<\/p>\n

Isaiya Katoa speaking on Nine’s 100% Footy.\u00a0Nine<\/p>\n

Katoa initially signed a deal of three years, beginning in 2023.<\/p>\n

The silky-skilled playmaker then re-committed in 2024, inking a three-year extension to tie himself to the Dolphins until the end of 2028.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins’ poaching of Katoa infuriated the Panthers, who were incensed that a precocious playmaker developed in their own junior nursery had been snatched away by a rival club.<\/p>\n

But the reality was Katoa would have been stuck in a queue behind Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai if he had remained in Penrith.<\/p>\n

“And rightfully so,” Katoa said.<\/p>\n

“[They’re both] great players, and you definitely wouldn’t be pulling them out of the team to put an 18-year-old kid in there anytime soon.”<\/p>\n

Katoa recalled the importance of Wayne Bennett, the Dolphins’ inaugural coach, to the deal with the Redcliffe club being signed.<\/p>\n

“I remember we set up the conversation about it at the time. We had to do it over Zoom,” Katoa remembered.<\/p>\n

“Wayne pretty much just said, ‘Isaiya, when you come over, I’ll make sure I look after you off the field. I’ll make sure I get the best out of you in terms of your footy career, but one thing I know I can promise you is I’ll look after you off the field’.<\/p>\n

“And it’s something that he did do.<\/p>\n

“That was, I guess, the turning point in getting my decisions going, ‘I think I do want to go to the Dolphins’.”<\/p>\n

When this year’s Dally M Medal voting went behind closed doors, Katoa was equal sixth with powerhouse Broncos prop Payne Haas.<\/p>\n

And with one round remaining in the regular season, the only player in the competition who’s racked up more try assists than Katoa’s 22 is Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater, who’s sitting on 24.<\/p>\n

As for representative football, Katoa is eligible to play for no less than four countries: Tonga, the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia.<\/p>\n

So far, the Kiwi-born star has only represented Tonga.<\/p>\n

“If I wasn’t playing for Tonga, the first country that I’d moved to would be the Cook Islands, before I’d look at playing for New Zealand or Australia,” Katoa said.<\/p>\n

“That’s just where my heart is at.<\/p>\n

\"Isaiya<\/p>\n

Isaiya Katoa runs the ball.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

“I know I was born in New Zealand. I also know that I qualify for Australia, as well.<\/p>\n

“But I guess where my heart’s been for a while is playing for either Tonga or Cook Islands.”<\/p>\n

The Dolphins will face Canberra, the reigning minor premiers, in Redcliffe on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

They’re sitting in ninth on the ladder and are still a chance to play finals football, but their hopes will be dashed if the Roosters beat the Rabbitohs on Friday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So prodigious a talent is Isaiya Katoa, the 21-year-old Dolphins halfback who’s rapidly become an irresistible favourite of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-111665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}