![\"Isaiah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/a3679ca830cd95b6c03410b15671fa72000805f9.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cFor me, taking something out of his book is, no matter what happens in the game, continue to back yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Katoa will have an opportunity to put those lessons on the paddock, as he and debuting five-eighth Isaiah Iongi launch Tonga\u2019s Pacific Championships campaign against Samoa on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Penrith casualties behind Tongan hopes<\/p>\n
Iongi and Katoa once loomed as the Panthers\u2019 future, joined in the junior ranks yet stuck behind premiership heroes Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Dylan Edwards.<\/p>\n
As they combined at various stages throughout 2022, Penrith won the Jersey Flegg Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Katoa] was a good player back then,\u201d Iongi recalled, \u201cand you can tell how much he\u2019s expanded in his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both were forced to launch their NRL careers elsewhere, and now hold the key to Tonga\u2019s hopes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Isaiah Iongi will make his debut for Tonga on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
While Iongi played five-eighth \u201cpretty much all through my juniors\u201d, the Panthers viewed him as a fullback, where he remained upon his defection to Parramatta.<\/p>\n
When Luai left for Wests Tigers, his Samoan halves partner Blaize Talagi came from the Eels to fill the void.<\/p>\n
But Iongi did not fear he made the wrong move.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best opportunity for me to be playing at NRL level was to move to Parra. It didn\u2019t matter where I\u2019d play, just as long as I was playing there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision was purely because of opportunity. Learning under Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown has just allowed my game to expand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve matured a lot as a footy player.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the same case for Katoa when he joined an unknown Redcliffe venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve got the development I\u2019ve got in terms of exposure to first grade. I would have had to sit behind a lot of great halves,\u201d Katoa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew for myself I needed to get out of my comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coach and the maestro<\/p>\n
Key to Katoa\u2019s rise has been his rapport with Dolphins and Tonga coach Kristian Woolf, who bestowed him with the Red Sea\u2019s No.7 jersey before he ever featured in the NRL.<\/p>\n
Back then, at the 2022 World Cup, he was still completing high school exams between training sessions.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
He believed his and Woolf\u2019s tight bond could trigger a Tongan revolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be there to tell me what I need to do right and improve on, but also give me a pat on the back when I need it,\u201d Katoa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the relationship we\u2019ve built, having that respect where I can go up to him and have a conversation about what I see in games and what I\u2019m feeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not a coach who\u2019s just going to tell you what to do all the time. At the end of the day, we\u2019re the players out on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reuniting the band<\/p>\n
Katoa and Iongi\u2019s reunion at Suncorp Stadium holds the hopes of a nation.<\/p>\n
Experience will lean towards Samoa, with both Luai and fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck boasting more NRL caps than Katoa, Iongi and Lehi Hopoate combined.<\/p>\n
Katoa is unfazed, lauding Iongi \u201ca freak\u201d whose running game could tear Samoa apart.<\/p>\n
And there is a craft Katoa brings that Iongi believes will unlock the Tongan attack, having been credited with more line engagements than any player of the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow square and straight he plays to square up defenders, I think it will free up space for myself and Lehi at the back and create some opportunities,\u201d Iongi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see him every week on the highlight reels, so I don\u2019t really have to study much. He\u2019s a very unique player.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFor me, taking something out of his book is, no matter what happens in the game, continue to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-239325","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\/239325","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=239325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}