Player Eliesa Katoa

[warriorsfan92]

If Katoa has any brains he will ask for a release and go develop elsewhere under a competent coach. To see his raw natural skill being reigned in is depressing. Any other team would have continued harnessing it or trying to unleash it to its full potential.

His talent is one you build a whole edge around. Everytime he touches the ball he should have support runners off each shoulder. His decoy value alone would open up opportunities for players inside and outside him.

His debut season was better than Ali Lauiti'iti debut year or even better than Ali's first two seasons.

Let that sink in.

He has the potential to be the best offloader we have ever had and we have two of the very best in the recent game...

Disagree. His work rate isn’t good enough. In his 5 games not once did he run over 100m. Missed 2-3 tackles on average. Made 1 offload. Made zero line breaks.

hes young. It’s part of his development. How can we expect a 20yo to play 80 min week after week. He’ll bounce back.

It also reinforces no spot is safe. if he throws his toys (which he won’t), then he needs to grow up. We’ve just signed him for 4 years, and he’s our future. If he can’t see he needs work then he’s not the player we want. No one should be complacent.

 

[mt.wellington]

241. ELISIA KATOA

Signed straight out of the Tamaki College 1st XV with much fanfare from the club. Originally signed on a train and trial contract during the 2019 preseason.

After impressing in the trial games Katoa made his debut off the bench in Round 1, 2020. By Round 4 he had made the starting second rower spot and the #11 his. About the same time Katoa signed a 4 year contract that would see him at the club until 2024.

In August 2022 the club announced that Katoa would be released 2 years early to join the Melbourne Storm for the 2023 season...

Katoa granted request for release at end of season​

Richard Becht & photosport.nz
Mon 8 Aug 2022, 03:36 PM


Vodafone Warriors second rower Eliesa Katoa has been granted a release to leave the club at the end of the season.

Katoa asked to be released so he can continue his career with another NRL club.

“We’re sympathetic to Eli’s circumstances,” said Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George.

“With so much competition for spots in the back row he hasn’t had as many opportunities as he would have liked this year. We’ve also made key signings in that area for next year so.

“We really appreciate the contribution Eli has made to our club since joining us and wish him every success for the future.”

Katoa has made 42 NRL appearances since his debut in 2020, all but one of them – against Melbourne on July 29 – played in Australia.

Katoa granted request for release at end of season

Vodafone Warriors grant second rower Eliesa Katoa request for release at the end of season.

www.warriors.kiwi

 

[Hardyman's Yugo]

When he first appeared he looked a talent, another Kikau imho. Is it him or the useless coaching he’s been under?

 

[matiunz]

When he first appeared he looked a talent, another Kikau imho. Is it him or the useless coaching he’s been under?

Seemed a classic case of second year syndrome and a case of being too comfortable at home. Suspect he’ll get a new lease of life and thrive at the storm

 

[defensivebomb]

When he first appeared he looked a talent, another Kikau imho. Is it him or the useless coaching he’s been under?

I suspect it was the rubbish set up he’s been in. He seemed like an unpolished gem

 

[snake77]

The change of coaches probably didn't help his time here. Some of the coaches had him on the edge, some had him in the middle, some playing big minutes, and some limited his minutes.

His form did dip I'd acknowledge that but there was definitely something there to work with. He came into first grade and handled it fitness wise which was good to see. He also had a knack for getting over the try line.

Under Bellamy, he will get a clearly defined role. He is the type of player that will likely shine under the Storm system.

 

[mt.wellington]

Four years in the Warriors set up and this preseason with the Storm is the hardest challenge he has ever had 😭 ...

​

 

[mt.wellington]

 

[Beastmode]

And only recently turned 23!!

Storm gonna transform our rough rock into a sparkling diamond, and can’t wait to watch his development

 

[Mullayo]

And only recently turned 23!!

Storm gonna transform our rough rock into a sparkling diamond, and can’t wait to watch his development

If I was them, I'd convert him to a prop. KISS.

 

[AlexM]

His retreat speed and defence ain't great.
Amazing attacking player though.

 

[Mullayo]

His retreat speed and defence ain't great.
Amazing attacking player though.

Yeah he has issues. Reminds me of a big puppy dog.

 

[Worried2Death]

Yeah he has issues. Reminds me of a big puppy dog.

What does Craig do about that, hire a puppy trainer?

 

[mt.wellington]

I'll just never understand how a player like Katoa can regress so badly. When he hit the team he was offloading at will, support playing like crazy and scoring regularly. He was a handful. It was pretty clear right from the start that he was gonna be a star and all the hoopla about him being the next big thing from his junior days were in fact justified.

Fast forward two years and he can hardly make the bench. How the fuck could that happen? This kid had a better debut season than Ali Lauitiiti and now he's playing reserve grade. Even more ironic is that we allowed Isaiah Papali'i to leave in favour of developing Katoa. You just cant make this shit up.

We all know whats going to happen with Katoa at the Storm. Again, Isaiah Papali'i must be mentioned cause that's what will happen to Katoa's career now.

At some stage people are going to have to face the reality that this club is completely shit at developing players and some major changes need to happen...

 

[Worried2Death]

And only recently turned 23!!

Storm gonna transform our rough rock into a sparkling diamond, and can’t wait to watch his development

Then he comes home the finished product for our premiership tilt right, or is that that end of the story

 

[Beastmode]

His retreat speed and defence ain't great.

Storm will fix

No worries

 

[Hardyman's Yugo]

I'll just never understand how a player like Katoa can regress so badly. When he hit the team he was offloading at will, support playing like crazy and scoring regularly. He was a handful. It was pretty clear right from the start that he was gonna be a star and all the hoopla about him being the next big thing from his junior days were in fact justified.

Fast forward two years and he can hardly make the bench. How the fuck could that happen? This kid had a better debut season than Ali Lauitiiti and now he's playing reserve grade. Even more ironic is that we allowed Isaiah Papali'i to leave in favour of developing Katoa. You just cant make this shit up.

We all know whats going to happen with Katoa at the Storm. Again, Isaiah Papali'i must be mentioned cause that's what will happen to Katoa's career now.

At some stage people are going to have to face the reality that this club is completely shit at developing players and some major changes need to happen...

Piss poor judgement of a players talents and how to develop them. Under Brown we seemed to bring in lesser players each time he shuffled the pack

 

[JaggedJ]

The common theme with both Katoa and Papali'i (not to mention several other juniors) is we couldn't just let them develop. Felt like they both had good debut years but all of a sudden they're either playing different positions or switching sides for who knows what reason.

Probably confused the hell out of them, lost their confidence and form which caused more reshuffles or position switches in an attempt to fix what shouldn't have been broken to begin with.

 

[AlexM]

Storm will fix

No worries

He got exposed in the trial a bit. But yeah he will, with work, become great. Maybe something with covid etc. We couldn't afford.
Our whole fg team bar Bunty , Ale, kosi, .... Shaun Johnson we haven't ' developed per say... I guess you could say Charmze and Marata were first developed here or that guys like Egan and Curren, Tohu Harris have progressed here.. I mean is that development? We've technically slowly bought a very effective FG team

The new crop of juniors looks promising and I'm optimistic with Webby and Cappy + whole setup

 

[Up the guttz]

Brown was the worst coach this club has ever had and I agree that we haven’t been good at developing players. However some onus still has to be on the player. I think whenever a player doesn’t improve we automatically blame the club. I mean they are still training in a professional environment day in, day out + playing games. Every game played should be a learning experience. No matter how bad the coaching is you still should be improving!!