Melbourne Storm have revealed Eliesa Katoa suffered seizure activity on the bench after Tonga's decision to let him return to the field after a sickening head knock in the warm-up which has been described as "indefensible".
Katoa was taken to hospital against New Zealand following three head knocks in the match, with Tonga coach Kristian Woolf defending his doctors post-match.
Katoa copped the first of his head knocks when he jumped for a ball in Tonga's warm-up and was hit by teammate Lehi Hopoate. He didn't undergo a head injury assessment for that knock.
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He then lined up for the start of the Pacific Championships game against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland and took another blow to the head in the 10th minute, copping an elbow from teammate Will Penisini during a tackle. He left the field for a head injury assessment but returned later in the first half, having passed the test.
Then in the 53rd minute, Katoa took another knock to the head when he went low to tackle Naufahu Whyte, resulting in the Melbourne Storm star going off for another head injury assessment and being ruled out of the match.
Katoa's state worsened as he watched the game from the bench, prompting him to be whisked away on a medicab and rushed to hospital.
Melbourne has now released a statement, explaining what occurred.
"Melbourne Storm forward Eli Katoa was taken to hospital after suffering seizure activity on the bench during the second half of yesterday's Pacific Championships match between Tonga and New Zealand," the statement read.
"Eli underwent surgery overnight and is in a stable condition being supported by his partner and mother. Storm medical staff remain in close contact with the hospital and Tonga's team chief medical officer."
https://twitter.com/nrlphysio/status/1985108541817147432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Katoa also posted on Instagram, thanking people for their support.
Watch the 2025 Pacific Championships live and free on Nine and 9Now.
Speaking on SEN, league commentator Andrew Voss described Tonga's handling of the situation as "indefensible", speculating Melbourne would be furious.
Greg Alexander agreed and said he should've been out of the game by the second head 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," he said.
"The fact he had to leave the field in the ninth minute, I would say Eli, you're out."
Woolf was confident the doctors had followed the correct process.
"Obviously he wasn't great on the sidelines," Woolf said in his post-game press conference.
"I don't know the full details.
"The doctors have gone with him [to hospital], but he wasn't great on the sideline. I'm told that he was responsive and was improving before he actually went to the hospital.
"We've got two very experienced doctors there. They've done their usual HIA. He's passed all that and passed all that well.
"My job is not to question doctors. They were both comfortable with that and comfortable with him coming back onto the field.
"So I don't think there's anything to worry about there in terms of the process."
Penisini's elbow to Katoa's face left the Tongan forward with a nasty gash under his left eye.
"Unfortunately, I think he's copped a second hit that's quite heavy, and obviously there's been a bit of a poor result on the back of that," Woolf said.
It's not known if Woolf was referring to Katoa's second hit of the day or second of the game.
"By all reports he was fine when he came off and he's deteriorated after that," Woolf added.
The coach then said that although Katoa underwent two HIAs during the match, he did not have a HIA for his knock in the warm-up.
The Kiwis defeated Tonga 40-14 and are now set to face Samoa in the Pacific Championships final, to be held at Sydney's CommBank Stadium next Sunday.
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