Doctors slapped with huge NRL bans over Tongan Eli Katoa’s shocking brain injury

The NRL has finally dropped its punishments after Tonga’s Eli Katoa suffered a horror brain bleed in the Pacific Championships.

The NRL has finally released its punishments after Eli Katoa suffered bleeding on the brain following a series of head knocks playing for Tonga in the Pacific Championships.

Late last month, the 25-year-old back rower was ruled out of the entire 2026 NRL season after undergoing emergency surgery in New Zealand to treat a brain bleed.

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Now the league has finally released the findings of an investigation, with the team’s head doctor and assistant doctor banned from working with any NRL or ARLC team for two years.

The head trainer has also been handed the same two-year ban.

“The investigation has identified a number of serious concerns regarding possible breaches of the NRL Rules and protocols by a number of individuals in the way that Mr Katoa was treated,” the NRL statement read.

Eliesa Katoa is attended to by a trainer during the Men's Pacific Championships match against New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

“These concerns relate to a possible breakdown in communication between responsible medical and health professionals in relation to the safety of Mr Katoa, including through a failure to share and disclose information that was vital to the health of the player.

“The NRL Rules and protocols exist to protect player safety and wellbeing and must be followed.

“All on-field NRL trainers and medical personnel are required to annually complete the NRL’s Elite Head Injury/Concussion protocols as well as maintain minimum standards of medical qualification and education.

“Four Tonga XIII officials have each received a Breach notice under the NRL Rules.”

A fourth trainer was also hit with a formal warning and the four individuals involved have five business days to respond to the breach notice.

Eli Katoa eats burger while in hospital. Picture: Instagram

Eli Katoa being visited by family in hospital. Credit: Facebook.

In the days after the awful incidents, the Melbourne Storm star was “struggling to process” the “devastating” news he will not return to the field at least for the 2026 NRL season after the injury plunged his career into serious doubt.

Katoa first had a sickening collision with teammate Lehi Hopoate in the warm-up, but Tongan medical staff insist they didn’t see the footage that went to air.

He suffered another head knock early in the game that forced him off for a head injury assessment, which he passed, before another collision in the second half ruled him out of the contest.

The edge forward then suffered “seizure activity” on the bench and required an oxygen mask before he was rushed to the hospital for surgery following a brain bleed.

The Storm’s club doctor and football director, Frank Ponissi, flew to Auckland to assist Katoa – who has since returned to Melbourne.

Speaking for the first time late last month since doctors rubbed him out for the 2026 season, Katoa declared “I’ll be back” in a defiant message to his social media followers.

“I’m back at home at the moment, and I’m in a good place now,” Katoa posted.

“My recovery is going well, and hopefully I can keep ticking all of the boxes that I need!”

Katoa also thanked everyone for their support through the entire ordeal.

“First of all, I would like to say how grateful I am to get to where I am today,” he said on Instagram.

“I wanna say a huge thank you to everyone who prayed, visited, sent me a message and checked in on me. I really appreciate it.

“I’m sorry if I haven’t got back to you, I will get back to you guys soon.

Katoa in action for Tonga. Picture: NRL Photos

“To all of my family, thank you for the love and support.

“To the (Tonga Test team), the team that we love. I wanna say a massive thank you. The quality time that we had in camp was unreal.

“Thank you, guys for the help in camp! I love playing for our little Kingdom.

“To my girl (partner), this woman has been amazing, strong and sticking by my side through it all. I appreciate you, and I love you so much.

“A special thank you to the Storm for all of the help and the support that you guys are continuing to provide. I appreciate it.”

Katoa scoring a try during the NRL Grand Final against the Broncos. Pictures: Adam Head

Katoa will miss the entire 2026 season with the Storm. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

After he was informed he won’t be back on the field anytime soon, however, the 25-year-old was reportedly “struggling”.

“He’s struggling to process it all, obviously,” Storm chief executive Justin Rodski said on SEN.

“He’s an athlete, he’s a competitor, he’s a young man at the peak of his powers, and he’s now facing at a minimum a year on the sidelines.

“As you can imagine, he’s struggling to deal with that part of this.

“His passion and love is rugby league, and for that to be taken away from him is pretty devastating for him.”

While Katoa won’t play next year, Rodski has refused to rule out a potential NRL return in the future.

“We certainly hope (he’ll be back),” he added.

Originally published as Doctors slapped with huge NRL bans over Tongan Eli Katoa’s shocking brain injury