Exile might be brief one
Touted second-rower headed back to reserve grade to tidy up loose ends
Nathan Brown says a stint in reserve grade is necessary for Eliesa Katoa but expects the back-rower to quickly force his way back into the Warriors NRL team.
Katoa, a surprise omission from coach Brown’s team to face St George Illawarra on Sunday, is set to turn out in the Queensland Cup for the Redcliffe Dolphins — the Warriors’ feeder team.
A rugby union product, Katoa only switched to league a couple of years ago and the majority of his experience has come in 18 NRL games after jumping straight from junior grades to the big time.
“Eli’s only played roughly about 20 rugby league games in his whole life. To come from rugby union and do what he did last year, it’s very, very rare,” Brown said via Zoom on Wednesday.
“A top-line rugby union player would come to an NRL side and play some reserve grade. It’s just more about his development and allowing him to play at a lower speed so he can work hard on the small parts of the game. He’s a wonderful talent.
“We don’t expect him to be there [in reserve grade] long, whether it’s a week or two or three. It doesn’t change our opinion of Eli in any way and where we see him going forward.”
Brown said his decision to drop Katoa wasn’t a reaction to back-toback losses to the Roosters and Sea Eagles.
Katoa regularly played 80 minutes in his debut season but
has done so only once in 2021, perhaps explaining why his average metres with the ball have decreased from 99 to 58 per game.
“If the club had been fully fit last year, Eli probably would have started in [reserve grade] instead of first grade,” Brown said.
“It’s not a second-year syndrome because his game certainly hasn’t gone backwards. But we’re in a situation where we’ve got some other people putting their hand up and Eli needs to tidy up a few areas.”