{"id":334743,"date":"2025-12-08T10:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/334743\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:51:10","slug":"nrl-proposes-heavy-bans-for-tonga-doctors-and-trainer-over-eli-katoa-head-knocks-concussion-in-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/334743\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL proposes heavy bans for Tonga doctors and trainer over Eli Katoa head knocks | Concussion in sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL<\/a> is proposing to ban three members of Tonga\u2019s medical staff for two years, claiming serious concerns over the handling of Eliesa Katoa\u2019s multiple head knocks.<\/p>\n

More than a month after Katoa required surgery for bleeding on the brain following seizure activity<\/a>, the NRL handed down findings into the matter on Monday.<\/p>\n

In a statement, NRL bosses said they had \u201ca number of serious concerns\u201d over alleged possible breaches around the way Katoa was treated.<\/p>\n

In turn, they have issued breach notices proposing two-year bans for Tonga\u2019s head doctor, assistant doctor and head trainer.<\/p>\n

In addition, the team\u2019s yellow shirt trainer has been handed notice of a formal warning, after he was the man to complete the initial on-field assessment on Katoa in the warm up.<\/p>\n

There are no penalties against any members of Tonga\u2019s coaching staff, with Dolphins mentor Kristian Woolf cleared of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Katoa has already been ruled out of the next NRL season<\/a>, with no clear timeline on a potential return to the field.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne Storm star was first floored when he collided with Lehi Hopoate\u2019s shoulder in the warm up for Tonga\u2019s Pacific Cup Test against New Zealand on 2 November.<\/p>\n

Tonga\u2019s staff conducted an on-field test and determined Katoa did not require a full HIA, clearing him to start the match.<\/p>\n

Katoa then left the field in the first half after a head clash, before returning when he passed that HIA.<\/p>\n

A third head knock came in the second half, prompting Katoa to leave the field and he subsequently suffered seizure activity on the sideline.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old was taken to an Auckland hospital where he underwent surgery, before flying home to Melbourne close to a fortnight later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation has identified a number of serious concerns regarding possible breaches of the NRL rules and protocols by a number of individuals in the way that Mr Katoa was treated,\u201d the NRL said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese concerns relate to a possible breakdown in communication between responsible medical and health professionals in relation to the safety of Mr Katoa, including through a failure to share and disclose information that was vital to the health of the player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NRL rules and protocols exist to protect player safety and wellbeing and must be followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Under the terms of the proposed bans, each of the officials would be unable to work with any club, team or player in any competition within the NRL\u2019s remit.<\/p>\n

The quartet would also be required to undergo training on their responsibilities around head knocks and concussions.<\/p>\n

They each have five days to respond to their breach notice.<\/p>\n

The NRL has not handed down recommendations around any changes to injury surveillance, with the warm-up period having emerged as a potential black spot in their system.<\/p>\n

All mid-week contract training must be filmed to monitor for injuries, with a spotter also handed the duty of watching for head knocks.<\/p>\n

The NRL also has an independent doctor in the bunker monitoring for head knocks and concussion symptoms in matches.<\/p>\n

However there is no requirement for warm ups to be filmed, with only broadcast cameras happening to catch the contact between Katoa and Hopoate.<\/p>\n

Tonga officials have maintained they did not see a replay of the sickening collision until after the match against New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL is proposing to ban three members of Tonga\u2019s medical staff for two years, claiming serious concerns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-334743","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\/334743","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=334743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}