Eliesa Katoa reveals the moment that left him fearing he would be blind for life

Melbourne star Eli Katoa reveals the moment he feared being blind for life and how an innocuous tackle would leave him fearing that his NRL dream could be over.

As Eliesa Katoa lay in a Melbourne hospital bed fearing he was ‘blind for life’, his Storm teammates across town were celebrating a win against Cronulla at AAMI Park.

Katoa had been on that same field, for a total of nine minutes to be exact, before he came reeling out of a tackle.

At first the tackle, almost two years ago now, looked innocuous.

A closer inspection revealed a bit of friendly fire, a poke in his eye by teammate Christian Welch.

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It stung Katoa but he figured it ‘was just a scratch on the eyeball, how bad could it be?’

Not only was Katoa taken from the field, Storm medical staff rushed the backrower straight to hospital.

“I got taken to the hospital as soon as I got taken from the field, and that’s when I knew it was serious,” Katoa said.

“I didn’t lose the vision in my right eye immediately, I knew it was a poke in the eye and it was a bit painful at the time but I still had vision when I was being taken off the field.

“But as soon as I got to the hospital that’s when I started going blind.”

The poke in the eye that almost blinded Eliesa Katoa

The eye injury was far worse than Katoa imagined and within the next 48 hours Katoa had lost complete vision in his right eye.

“It was serious. It was actually a really scary moment in my life,” Katoa said.

“I was in hospital thinking I was going to be blind for the rest of my life.

“It turned out that the retina in my eye was actually torn and I needed to have surgery to fix it.

But still, Katoa’s vision was not restored.

He spent the next two weeks laying flat, face down, and with not much more to do other than run through the worst case scenarios in his mind.

Katoa’s mind went to ‘weird places’.

Could he still play NRL with just one eye? How would he support his family if he couldn’t get back onto the field?

“I had to lay flat on a massage table with my head in the hole,” Katoa said.

“The theory behind it is to control the blood flow so the blood doesn’t drain into the back of my eye.

“It wasn’t a fun time, that’s for sure.

“It plays on your mind, especially laying there for two weeks. I started to think ‘oh, what I’m going to do, is this going to be me for the rest of my life.’

“You can’t help your mind going there … every injury or setback can have an impact on your career.”

Eli Katoa reels away from the tackle.

Eli Katoa was left clutching at his face.

A trainer escorts Eli Katoa from the field, he was then rushed to hospital.

As he lay there, he could also hardly believe his bad luck.

Not only was Katoa in the midst of negotiating a contract extension to stay in Melbourne, he had actually suffered a similar injury, to his left eye, during his time at the Warriors.

“I think I need a pair of those eye goggles,” Katoa laughed.

“The first time wasn’t as serious as this one. It needed surgery too but I only missed a week or so

“The most recent one, took about two weeks for the vision to come, which made it scary. It was a relief to know I could be back playing again, I did end up missing around seven weeks.”

While Katoa can see the lighter side of his improbable run with eye injuries, at the time it weighed heavy on him.

After suddenly losing his father as a 12-year old in the tiny Tongan village of Koulo, Katoa had made a promise to his mother Akanesi that he would one day provide for his family.

He feared the eye injury would force him to break that promise.

“I always said everything happened for a reason. Growing up in Tonga, we relied on my dad to do everything for us,” Katoa said.

“When he passed away, I knew that I had to do something. I knew I had to have a serious life, I wanted to provide for them.

“So I had to move away, especially if I wanted to play footy.

“It was pretty tough at the time, I was only 17 but it was the only option.

“I went to New Zealand to finish my schooling, I was homesick. It was tough. But I wanted a better life for my family.”

Eliesa Katoa hugs a student during a school visit while he was with the New Zealand Warriors. Picture: Getty Images

Rugby union was supposed to be the sport to give Katoa that chance to look after his mum and three siblings.

“As soon as I finished school back in 2018 the Warriors picked me up and I switched to league,” Katoa said.

“I grew up wanting to play rugby union, I never thought I would end up here. I would do whatever it takes to support my family and league gave me that opportunity.”

Katoa burst onto the scene for the Warriors in an NRL debut more unlikely than suffering two detached retinas in four years.

“The first time I played league was under 20s for the Warriors in 2019 and then I made my debut in 2020. It happened very quickly,” Katoa said.

Once a novice of rugby league, Katoa is now a self-confessed “NRL nerd”.

“I had no option but to study the game as hard as I can,” Katoa said.

“I watch every game, every week and it is something that I enjoy doing. I’m always trying to learn new tricks and ways to make my game better.”

The Storm wouldn’t swap Eliesa Katoa for anyone. Picture: Getty Images

After three seasons with the Warriors, Katoa’s career started to plateau making his ripe for the picking by Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy.

Bellamy has a knack for unlocking the best out of every man in his top 30, Katoa would be no different.

Katoa joined the Storm in 2023, emerging as one of the best buys of the season, and backed-up his form to claim the Dally M backrower of the year in 2024.

His football is only getting better this year.

“I don’t think we’d swap him for anyone, to be quite honest,” Bellamy said.

“Since he’s come here, he’s surprised everybody with how good a player he is, how smart of a player he is and how skilful too.

“He’s obviously a big body, but he’s a smart football player.

“We are really glad that he landed here. With all due respect (to his teammates), he is probably our most consistent player, if he’s not then he’s in the top three or four.

“As soon as he got here, he put the hard work in.

“If you prepare properly and you train as well as you can on the training paddock and away from it you get confidence out of that.”