{"id":936804,"date":"2026-10-22T10:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936804\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:50:23","slug":"world-cup-junior-amone-could-replace-isaiya-katoa-for-tonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936804\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup: Junior Amone could replace Isaiya Katoa for Tonga"},"content":{"rendered":"

Superstar halfback Isaiya Katoa has been ruled out of Tonga\u2019s game against Lebanon on Friday that could open the door for Junior Amone to come into the side.<\/p>\n

Katoa aggravated an ankle injury in Tonga\u2019s win over England but played through the discomfort to lead his team to a famous win in Perth.<\/p>\n

It was the same injury that forced him to leave Suncorp Stadium in a moon boot after the Dolphins were knocked out in the preliminary final by the Roosters.<\/p>\n

Katoa trained away from the team on Tuesday and was named to play, but he was officially ruled out on Thursday morning. <\/p>\n

Latu Fainu is the obvious option to replace him in the halves despite coming off early against England with a pec injury. <\/p>\n

But coach Kristian Woolf has another option in Amone, who was part of Tonga\u2019s 2022 World Cup campaign but hasn\u2019t played an NRL game since 2023.<\/p>\n

The former Dragons playmaker was initially banned from playing under the NRL\u2019s no fault stand-down policy after he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stalking or intimidation and destroying or damaging property.<\/p>\n

He returned to the field that year but was stood down by his club after he and his father were found guilty following an incident with a tradie in 2022. <\/p>\n

Amone played in the Queensland Cup this year and is looking for another opportunity in the NRL if he impresses at the World Cup and has his contract approved. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been pretty special,\u201d Katoa said of Amone earlier in the week. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor everything that he\u2019s gone through, to still have the drive and the hunger to get back to the NRL is great. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there\u2019s a little bit of legal stuff that is out of my control and I probably won\u2019t speak on, but just to see his attitude to want to get back and not only prove something to his family but also prove something to himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such a talent. I think he went over to Queensland and played in the Q-Cup with Wynnum and I heard that he absolutely killed it. If he does get his opportunity, it\u2019ll be pretty special for him, and everyone\u2019s so happy to have him back in camp. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was in the last World Cup with us, and I think that was probably some of the last footy that he played. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone loves having him around the group, he\u2019s always happy, he\u2019s always real positive with everything going on in his life, and he\u2019s always still wanting to put a smile on people\u2019s faces. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good tell of his character and probably a good tell of his family as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018He\u2019s been pretty special\u2019: Isaiya Katoa injury could see Junior Amone make shock return for Tonga<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Superstar halfback Isaiya Katoa has been ruled out of Tonga\u2019s game against Lebanon on Friday that could open…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[503568,462721,380197,503562,390985,8288,503569,413615,503574,503567,380489,469760,446214,398466,441129,145990,503571,417749,377711,406065,503572,481251,450274,24278,64,63,20871,502974,1865,1208,503559,39598,503573,423700,434448,380909,376761,376861,389167,452329,378779,384953,12979,3899,216562,503578,503556,152166,386858,55319,503570,13053,381334,761,762,158,476967,6622,1861,503575,503564,701,296295,85,503563,40050,503560,436119,472255,54179,378193,409625,377453,384223,395523,503557,503576,503566,380184,503558,460256,503565,402329,503561,503577,417745,386778,315971,214758,98734,72503,364611,395118,9357,18559,28333,21418,183384],"class_list":["post-936804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-2022-world-cup-campaign","tag-s-faces","tag-s-game","tag-s-no-fault-stand-down-policy","tag-s-win","tag-8288","tag-2023-the-former-dragons-playmaker","tag-a-famous-win","tag-a-former-star","tag-a-good-tell","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-moon-boot","tag-a-pec-injury","tag-a-smile","tag-a-tradie","tag-actual-bodily-harm","tag-amone","tag-an-ankle-injury","tag-an-incident","tag-an-injury","tag-an-nrl-game","tag-another-opportunity","tag-another-option","tag-assault","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-camp","tag-coach-kristian-woolf","tag-door","tag-england","tag-exiled-half","tag-friday","tag-his-attitude","tag-his-character","tag-his-club","tag-his-contract","tag-his-family","tag-his-father","tag-his-life","tag-his-opportunity","tag-his-return","tag-his-team","tag-injuries","tag-injury","tag-isaiya-katoa","tag-isaiya-katoa-injury","tag-junior-amone","tag-katoa","tag-latu-fainu","tag-lebanon","tag-legal-stuff","tag-morning","tag-my-control","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-or-intimidation","tag-part","tag-people","tag-perth-it","tag-property-he","tag-queensland","tag-shock-return","tag-sports","tag-such-a-talent","tag-suncorp-stadium","tag-superstar-halfback-isaiya-katoa","tag-that-year","tag-the-discomfort","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-door","tag-the-drive","tag-the-field","tag-the-group","tag-the-halves","tag-the-hunger","tag-the-last-footy","tag-the-last-world-cup","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-obvious-option","tag-the-preliminary-final","tag-the-q-cup","tag-the-queensland-cup","tag-the-roosters-katoa","tag-the-rugby-league-wilderness","tag-the-same-injury","tag-the-side","tag-the-team","tag-the-way","tag-the-week","tag-the-world-cup","tag-this-year","tag-three-years","tag-thursday","tag-tonga","tag-tuesday","tag-world-cup","tag-wynnum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936804","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=936804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}