Kato Ottio: Young rugby league star remembered as ‘lovely, cheeky guy’ after heatstroke death

AN up-and-coming rugby league star who collapsed and died on the pitch will be honoured by his club at their first match since his death as well as a fundraising effort to support his grieving family.

• Budding NRL star and ex-Raider Kato Ottio dead at 23

LOVELY, cheeky, respectful, Kato Ottio’s impact on rugby league was brief, but it will last forever.

The 23-year-old Papua New Guinea star was destined for future NRL successes, before tragedy took his life while training for the game he loved.

On track to fulfil his dream of playing top flight rugby league with the Widnes Vikings, Ottio kept in shape with the PNG Hunters to ensure peak fitness upon his arrival in the UK.

The Vikings have since launched a crowdfunding page in honour of Ottio, with all funds raised to be donated to the star’s family.

The Vikings were planning to make a private donation before being inundated with messages from people around the world. The crowdfunding total will be bolstered by donation buckets being deployed at a pre-season friendly later this week.

The NRL community is mourning the death of former Canberra Raiders winger Kato Ottio.

Ottio collapsed with a sudden health issue following an eight kilometre run with the Queensland Cup’s PNG Hunters and was taken to Port Moresby hospital where he later died.

“Kato told a few of the players ‘let’s run back’ (after training) — he wanted to use the professionalism he gained from his time at Canberra to rub off on his younger countrymen,” Ottio’s manager Steve Deacon told Wide World of Sports.

“He got slower and eventually collapsed. He was unconscious and in a coma and they were not able to revive him.”

Kato Ottio died after sudden health complications after training in PNG. Picture: Brett Costello

He was due to depart for England next week to begin his Super League journey.

Born and raised on Tatana Island, 15-minutes northeast of Port Moresby, Ottio represented PNG in volleyball before making the shift to rugby league, finding himself in the national side in 2015.

In the same year, Canberra Raiders recruitment guru Peter Mulholland and Mounties coach Steve Antonelli poached the Hunters backrower to join them in the nation’s capital.

With his rangy, athletic frame gifting him power and speed, Ottio made a name for himself as a winger with the Mounties in the NSW Cup competition, compiling 29 tries in his debut season in 2016.

Ottio starred for the PNG Kumuls in the World Cup

Antonelli, now assistant to Dean Pay at the Bulldogs, forged a strong bond with his close mate Kato.

“I could cuddle him and tell him I loved him,” an emotional Antonelli said.

“I was that close to him I used to tell him I loved him all the time.

“You know when you have good mates they’ll tell you they love you back in a man’s type of way.

“He was a lovely cheeky guy. He had such a lovely soft nature. That’s how he was to me.”

Lovely and cheeky are the words Antonelli used over and over again to describe Ottio, and he had no doubt that he had a future in the NRL.

“He snapped his knee in 2016 so last year was a bit of a struggle footy wise. I reckon if he didn’t do that he’d be playing NRL now, that’s my opinion,” he said.

“I was pretty close with him in my time down there, he came across fresh. I had to take him under my wing a little bit.

“When he first came across he was quiet, he only spoke broken English and was in his shell a bit.

Ottio in his PNG jersey ahead of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Picture: David Buller/NRL Imagery

Ottio has been described as a “lovely, cheeky guy”.

“So me and Deano (Dean Pay) who I was living with in Canberra at the time, we took him to tea and after tea he was as cheeky as they come. I wished nothing but the best for him.

“He was a good bloke, and ended up being an absolute champion fella. You wouldn’t meet a nicer kid.”

Antonelli, who kept in touch with Ottio after their respective departures from Canberra, will be ensuring he receives the Australian send-off he deserves.

“I was only talking to him last week, congratulating him on his move to the UK, one door shuts another door opens. I said mate it’ll be the best thing for you,” Antonelli said.

“I was just talking to Glen Buttriss from down there, we’re trying to do something in memory of him in Canberra.

“Whether we go out and celebrate his life as a group, I’ll speak to Jack Wighton and maybe try to do something for him along those lines.”

The 23-year-old in action. Picture: Getty Images

Former Raiders teammates have praised the young player. Picture: Brett Costello

The 23-year-old’s heartbroken mother Joyce said doctors told her that her son had suffered severe heatstroke.

“He should be close to me and my family,” she told The Daily Telegraph from PNG.

“He got heatstroke, that’s what the doctor said.

“I love him so much, he is my everything. I was with him at the hospital and he should be close to me, I miss my son so much.”

Ottio’s cousin, Edwel Ottio, said the whole city in Port Moresby had come together to support the tragic league star’s relatives.

“He was humble and kind,” he said.

“This year he got his contract to the UK but unfortunately … I will miss him and the smiles and fun.”

Family friend Annette Geno Lopsy added: “He was a lovely boy, he meant everything to his mother.”

Former Canberra Raiders teammate Luke Bateman echoed Antonelli’s words, saying he can’t express enough how loved Ottio was by the entire club.

“When he first came over from PNG he wouldn’t say boo, then when he opened up he was just an absolute character,” Bateman said.

“Everyone loved him, you would not find a person anywhere who would say a bad word about the bloke.

“Never in a million years would anyone wish a bad thing upon him, it always seems to be the ones who don’t deserve to go.”

Ottio represented the Raiders at the NRL Auckland Nines tournament in 2016, and earned six caps for the PNG Kumuls, scoring a try at last year’s World Cup.

Canberra are in the process of organising a service for players and staff to coincide with the PNG funeral commemorating Ottio’s life.

Only a small section of the rugby league community were fortunate enough to have Kato Ottio impact their lives, but his immense impact as a cheeky lovely guy will ensure his name is remembered in those circles for many years to come.