Tonga’s decision to allow Eliesa Katoa to return to the field after a series of head knocks during Sunday’s Pacific Championships clash with New Zealand has been widely condemned as “indefensible”.
The Melbourne Storm star suffered three separate head injuries over the course of the match at Eden Park, Auckland.
The first incident took place in Tonga’s warm-up, when the 25-year-old clashed with teammate Lehi Hopoate while leaping for the ball. Despite the collision, he was not given a head injury assessment (HIA) and later started in the game against New Zealand.
Just 10 minutes into the game, the second-rower took a second blow to the head in a tackle with teammate Will Penisini. After leaving the field for an HIA and clearing the protocols, he returned to action later in the first half.
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The final blow came in the 53rd minute, when Katoa went low to tackle New Zealand’s Naufahu Whyte, triggering another head injury assessment and ruling him out for the remainder of the match.
However, the Tonga star’s condition deteriorated while on the sidelines, with Katoa eventually being rushed to hospital by ambulance for further assessment.
The handling of the situation drew sharp criticism from rugby league commentators.
Speaking on SEN, league commentator Andrew Voss described the decision as “indefensible” and suggested that the Melbourne Storm would be furious over how one of their key players was handled.
Greg Alexander echoed these remarks, insisting that Katoa should have been removed from the field after the second knock.
"I'm not going to question the doctors but looking at that incident, I'm saying category one, to my untrained doctor eye but from what I've seen through the game. The contact there (from Hopoate) was as heavy as you can get," Alexander stated.
"The fact he had to leave the field in the ninth minute, I would say Eli, you're out."