Patience pays off after Katoa cracks NRL
Sharks coach John Morris remembers the first time he laid eyes on a young Sione Katoa.
Katoa sealed his playing future when he impressed his would-be coach in a suburban field at Blacktown in 2015.
Back then Katoa was a willing fullback for Parramatta’s SG Ball side and Morris was in his first year of retirement, forging his own coaching path with Cronulla’s junior representative program.
“I was the blue-shirt trainer for Cronulla’s SG Ball team and in our round-one game we played against Parramatta,” Morris said.
“Sione was blitzing it and we couldn’t get a hand on him. When you’re out there you could see how good he was.”
Katoa was unwanted by the Eels at the end of the season but Morris had no hesitation in telling the Sharks to sign him on a two-year deal.
Morris would go on to coach Katoa in the under-20s at the Sharks and he was named in the ‘team of the year’ alongside the likes of Kalyn Ponga, Payne Haas and A.J. Brimson.
Morris said there was a time, though, when Katoa was struggling with the demands of working and trying to crack it in the NRL.
“He is such a humble, quietly spoken kid but a hard-working kid who has made so many sacrifices,” Morris said.
“I’ve had him in tears in my office because he was finding it so hard to make ends meet.
“He was doing shift work at the airport. He would work, have an hour or two off and then come to training and then do it all again.
“Now here he is as an NRL player on good money. He is hassle-free and a really coachable. I’m really happy for him. It’s a great story.”
Morris presented Katoa with his NRL debut jersey ahead of round one last year.
Katoa’s joy was, however, short-lived with the 21-yearold suffering a broken jaw in his first game.
He returned to play eight more top-grade games – and extend his contract until the end of next year – before Morris handed him a start on the wing again this year.
Katoa said he was “nervous” about his position before Morris named him in the roundone team.
“Playing round one this year I had to be confident and act like I belong here and fit in around the boys,” Katoa said.