Katoa’s ready to ‘ice those moments’

Dolphins NRL halfback Isaiya Katoa is focused on taking his game to the next level in 2025 and says having the confidence to back himself during crucial moments will be key … as will be hard work.

The 20-year-old only made his NRL debut in 2023 but has grown as a player since then, showing the world his potential during the 2024 Pacific Championships for Tonga.

His match-winning field goal against New Zealand propelled Tonga to the final where they faced Australia, going down 20-14.

Katoa concedes there are moments he wished he’d played differently during the championships, but he has learnt from the experience and will bring that knowledge to the 2025 NRL season for the Dolphins.

“Learning how to bounce back from making errors. I made a few in that first Australia game at Suncorp. I remember speaking to (Tonga coach Kristian Woolf) Woolfie afterwards and he was reminding me if I don’t take those opportunities, if I don’t take the things that I see and back myself, we don’t even put ourselves in a position to win the game,” Katoa explains.

“He’s always encouraging me to keep backing myself. He’d rather me back myself and make the error and learn through that than hold myself back.

“That’s something that I want to work on this year as well as getting fitter. I know as a halfback you need to be one of the fittest in the team.

“Icing those moments, making better decisions. I’ve got to be on the ball a bit more.”

The extended squad has returned to preseason training this week after taking a break for Christmas, including Tom Gilbert who completed his first full contact training session today.

See the photo gallery at the end of this story

Gilbert is back after suffering an ACL injury in a trial game last year, which sidelined him for the season and followed a season-ending shoulder injury in 2023.

Welcome return

Katoa says it is great to have Gilbert back.

“He comes with such a presence and he’s someone who leads by his actions. He’s definitely learnt how to be more of a leader through his communication now. Obviously, with the loss of Skip, Jesse (Bromwich), I guess he’s taken it upon himself to have a bit more of a leadership role,” Katoa says.

“I think the thing that we love and respect about Tom is he earns it through his actions not just his words.”

Katoa says Gilbert, who has been identified as a future club leader, put in a good session and is moving well.

“We’ve missed him for nearly two years now … I think he’s just going to bring his aggression … that’s just him as a character. He’s one of the biggest competitors and he’s going to bring that,” he says.

“Woolfie talks about it a lot. It’s very contagious in a good way. If teammates and the other forward pack see him going after different forwards and different middles and going after the game, I feel they will try to take something out of what he’s bringing and bring that as well.

“He’s going to be an awesome leader for us. I guess the pack that wants to work the hardest, and puts in the most effort, is going to come up with the victory.”

It’s a pack that will be bolstered by newcomers Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Daniel Saifiti.

“We lost Jesse, through retirement … bringing in a guy like Daniel Saifiti has been awesome. He’s a little bit similar to how Jesse plays, obviously a little bit younger,” Katoa says.

“I think the best thing about him is he’s come here to not prove anything but to earn everyone’s trust. He’s earning that through his actions and he’s absolutely training the house down at the moment.

“We’re going to have a great forward pack but, at the moment, we just trying to work on how we can jell together as a team … with a couple of new faces and a couple of different dynamics.”

Katoa says he is more disciplined in the way he’s training, even doing some extra one-on-one sessions with Daniel Rich, the club’s kicking coach and former Brisbane Lions player, during the break.

“I feel really refreshed after a good Chrissy and New Year’s break. Everyone’s feeling a little bit the same but like every other team … every other team’s working really hard. You always want to get better, you always want to get fitter. You want to improve in your contact,” he says.

“It (pre-season training) has been tough, but it’s also been fun. There’s been a different dynamic to the training this year, but it’s been awesome.”

Katoa says new Head Coach Kristian Woolf shares the same fundamental beliefs as his predecessor Wayne Bennett – staying in the grind, working hard and doing the little things right.