{"id":399564,"date":"2026-01-08T10:50:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/399564\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T10:50:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:50:24","slug":"melbourne-storm-boss-provides-update-on-katoa-and-returning-players-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/399564\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm boss provides update on Katoa and returning players – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Melbourne Storm’s pre-season preparations are in full swing as the club looks to go one step further and win the premiership this year.<\/p>\n

With all players returning from international duty, the club held its first training session with the full 2026 squad.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Storm’s media, General Manager of Football Frank Ponissi raved about the importance of having players like Harry Grant<\/a> and Jahrome Hughes<\/a> back with the rest of the squad.<\/p>\n

“They’re quality players, so the intensity of training goes to another level,” Ponissi said.<\/p>\n

“Also, they’re leaders, they lead us on and off the field, so you want your leaders around the group.”<\/p>\n

Another player who has been around the squad for pre-season is Eliesa Katoa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ruled out for the entirety of the 2026 season after sustaining a brain injury while on international duty, many wondered whether he would still be involved with the team.<\/p>\n

However, footage online showed Katoa training with his teammates and Ponissi believes it is the best thing for him.<\/p>\n

“He’s had some dark days, so for him yesterday just to be out there and be around the boys and do a little bit, wasn’t too much but at least a little bit, it’s great for his wellbeing,” Ponissi said.<\/p>\n

\"NRLMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 11: Eliesa Katoa of the Storm scores a try during the round 10 NRL match between Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers at AAMI Park, on May 11, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mike Owen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As for his recovery, the Storm boss says he is making great progress both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n

“He’s on a restricted program, heavily restricted program on what he can and can’t do,” Ponissi said.<\/p>\n

“He’s making great inroads physically but more importantly it’s just for his own wellbeing just to be around the group and feel like that he’s really contributing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Melbourne Storm’s pre-season preparations are in full swing as the club looks to go one step further…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-399564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399564","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=399564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}