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Melbourne Storm forward Eli Katoa will miss the entire 2026 NRL season as he continues his recovery at home in Victoria, after coming back from a prolonged stay in Auckland after undergoing brain surgery.

Sequence of Events

The 25-year-old suffered three separate head injuries during a single match while playing for the Tongan national team in a international match versus the Kiwis. This led to seizures while on the sideline, requiring urgent medical care.

A medical operation to relieve bleeding on the brain resulted in the player hospitalized and temporarily grounded back to Melbourne.

The team announced this week that the forward has now come back and is on the mend, having also made a brief visit to a local medical facility.

“Eli’s health and wellbeing remain our top concern,” stated the club's chief executive a team official. “It is great to have him home safely and under the care of our medical staff and specialist physicians.”

The Road to Recovery

Rodski added that the athlete is improving each day and is looking forward to pursuing his recovery from home.

Importantly, the executive confirmed that there is no timeframe for Katoa’s recovery or a potential return to training.

“After discussions with our medical team and neuro specialists, Eli won't be back to training during the preseason and is ruled out for the upcoming season,” Rodski declared. “He has a lengthy recovery process ahead of him, and his primary goal will be on returning to full health before considering any form of return to training.”

Rodski concluded by saying that Katoa is a much loved and respected part of the squad and organization, and that the Storm family will support him fully and support him through his recovery.

League Investigation

The NRL is wrapping up its investigation into the circumstances that led to Katoa’s surgery.

The powerful forward, who was named in the competition’s team of the year at the recent Dally M awards, seemed to sustain a head injury during the warm-up for the international contest.

However, he was cleared to participate in the match and endured two additional blows to the head before being substituted in the later stages.

His state worsened rapidly, and he needed medical oxygen on the sideline before being removed from the field on a medicab.

The NRL has sought to tackle issues around head injuries in the game in recent seasons, implementing crackdowns on high tackles and lengthening the post-concussion stand down period for affected players.