“If it wasn’t for him debuting in the NRL then I don’t know where I’d be.”
Those are the words of young gun Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa. The person he’s talking about?
Older brother Sione, who played 75 NRL games for the Penrith Panthers and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs between 2015 and 2021.
Speaking to Fox League’s Jake Duke on an upcoming episode of Face to Face, Katoa credits the influence of his older brother as the key reason behind his rise up the rugby league ranks.
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Born in Wellington New Zealand, Katoa was eight when he and his family migrated across the Tasman to follow Sione on his rugby league journey, which began in the Sydney Roosters’ system before a move to the Panthers.
It was at the foot of the mountains that Katoa, a crafty hooker, made his first grade debut in 2015. Sione played 47 times for the Panthers before leaving at the end of 2019 to join the Bulldogs.
“He was the main reason why I wanted to go down the NRL pathway,” Katoa said of his older brother.
“He set a great example for me.
“As a younger sibling seeing my brother being able to live out his dream, just seeing him play NRL was one thing that was always so cool.
“At the same time it was always very eye opening to me.”
The younger Katoa credited his brother’s “natural ability to pass on information of what to expect (in first grade)” but revealed his greatest teaching wasn’t in how to manipulate a marker or attack straight, but in how to operate off the field.
“Whether it’s dealing with your body, making sure you’re looking after your nutrition. He always said to me the hard work is away from the team, away from coaches,” Katoa said.
“(It’s) what they don’t see.”
After years under his brother’s wing, Isaiya Katoa would make his NRL debut eight years after Sione in Round One of 2023.
There aren’t too many NRL players who can lay claim to making their debut in the same game as their club.
But then again, there aren’t too many NRL players as prodigiously talented as the Dolphins halfback.
Having grown up in Western Sydney and spent years in the junior ranks at the Penrith Panthers, it was a major decision for the teenager to uproot his life, move states and chance his hand at making it in the NRL.
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At Penrith, his path to first grade was barricaded by Nathan Cleary, the greatest halfback of this generation, and Jarome Luai, the Robin to Cleary’s Batman.
Despite having not debuted in first grade when signing for the Dolphins on the day of his 18th birthday in 2022, with Katoa revealing on Face to Face how Wayne Bennett had hardly seen him play when he signed him.
Although by the time he’d signed with the Dolphins he’d already played for Tonga at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, a trip that he completed his HSC on. Imagine that?
Fast forward to the beginning of 2023 and Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins are preparing to become the NRL’s newest club.
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From the outside looking in it felt as if Sean O’Sullivan, fresh from an apprenticeship under Nathan Cleary at Penrith, and Bennett favourite Kodi Nikorima would be the Dolphins’ halves for their Round One clash against the Roosters.
As we now know, this wasn’t to be the case. As Katoa explained he was surprisingly named to make his NRL debut in the same game the Dolphins were.
“He’s (Wayne) probably a bit old school with it but he didn’t actually come up to me and tell me I’m debuting,” Katoa explained.
At a training session over a week out from the Dolphins Round One clash on Sunday March 5th, 2023, Bennett informed his side they’ll “probably be a bit surprised” by his opening round side.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” Katoa said.
Katoa admitted he thought he would spend the season’s opening rounds in Queensland Cup. Bennett, however, had other plans.
“I was shocked. I was like ‘oh, oh, I guess I’m making my debut,” he said.
At first, the 20-year-old thought Bennett had made a mistake.
“I actually thought ‘did he just say my name on accident or was he meaning to say (it)?” he said.
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Many teenagers may crumble under the weight of expectation and pressure that comes with an NRL debut, especially in the halves.
However, Bennett afforded his teenage sensation eight days notice. In his eyes this was more than enough time to prepare for one of the biggest moments of his young life.
“Because he (Wayne) gave it to me a lot earlier it settled the nerves,” Katoa shared.
“By Tuesday I was over the stage that I was debuting and I was like ‘what’s my job for the team? What have I got to do next?’”
The Dolphins would stun the Roosters 28-18 in their NRL debut and win six of their first 10 matches to sit fourth in May, with Katoa lining up against Joseph Sua’ali’i, a teammate in the junior ranks at the Glenmore Park Brumbies.
However, the side won just three of their remaining 14 games to end the season 13th.
It was, in short, a tough debut campaign for club and player as Katoa struggled to adapt to life in the NRL, and was dropped to the bench for three of his side’s final six games.
Over a year later, Katoa is one of the finest halfbacks in the NRL, with many touting him as a future State of Origin representative for the NSW Blues.
Imagine if he had a different older brother?
Source Agencies
