Katoa playing
The Warriors’ red-hot rookie Eliesa Katoa is dedicating his NRL success to his family in Tonga.
Katoa, 20 lived in Tonga until he was 17 and was given a rugby union scholarship by Tamaki College in Auckland.
The 1.93m 110kg forward played No 8 or blindside flanker there before he was snapped up by the Warriors, jumping at the chance to be a professional athlete.
Katoa scored his first NRL try in his third first-grade appearance when he dotted down in a 18-0 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday.
He told NRL.com it was only his 16th game of rugby league since swapping codes.
Katoa recently signed a new contract, committing himself to the Warriors till the end of the 2024 season.
He said relocating to Australia – where the Warriors have set up a base at Terrigal on the New South Wales central coast – is less of a wrench for him than his older team-mates, many of whom have partners and children in Auckland.
‘‘My family is all back in Tonga. I’m happy for them because there’s no [Covid-19] cases there and not much back in New Zealand, so I’m happy with my family in Tonga. I want to help all my family and if this is what it takes then why not.’’
Katoa, who turned 20 in January, made his NRL debut in the 2020 season opener against the Newcastle Knights in March.
He impressed off the interchange bench, running for 144m and peeling off 50 postcontact metres in a 52-minute cameo.
That earned him a start in the round two defeat to the Canberra Raiders, the 2019 grand final runners-up.
Katoa ran 157m and powered through four tackles in an impressive performance, which encouraged the Warriors to offer him a contract extension during the NRL lockdown hiatus.
It’s been a whirlwind journey for Katoa, whoi played 11 games in the Jersey Flegg age-group grade last year and appeared in two trial matches before being pitched into the NRL deep end by coach Stephen Kearney.
Katoa, whose father passed away in 2011, told Warriors TV on Sky Sport at the time of his contract extension that his rapid rise was ‘‘a shock’’.
The whole reason why I’m playing is to help out my family and my Mum’s happy,’’ he said.
‘‘As a young player, I’m trying to sort out my future so signing this deal for four years, I’m really happy about it.
‘‘Every time I play, I want to put my best foot forward and just play my best.’’
He’s certainly been making an early impact.
As well as his 23rd minute try against the Dragons, Katoa ran for 181m, made 18 hit-ups, completed 29 tackles (missing just two) and made three tackle breaks in 64 minutes of action in the Warriors’ second row.
He is now averaging 161.3m per game with the ball in hand, and has made 75 tackles across three matches, for a 89.4 per cent