Melbourne Storm second-rower will learn whether he is able to play again or not within the next three to four months as independent doctors continue to assess his condition.
Katoa missed the entirety of the 2026 NRL season after suffering a horror head knock playing for Tonga in the 2025 Pacific Championships.
The distressing scenes, which allowed him to play the game well after he shouldn't have been allowed to, saw him suffer a bleed on the brain and spend weeks in hospital.
His recovery saw him miss the 2026 season, and he is still not back to full fitness, with The Sydney Morning Herald reporting a decision will be made on whether he is able to play elite sport again or not ahead of the 2026 season getting underway.
It's believed Katoa is confident of being able to play again, and has maintained that approach the whole time since his injury, but it's not a guarantee given the nature of his injury, and the way concussions have been cramped down on not just in the NRL, but right around the sporting world.
Reports suggest he is due to undergo career-defining scans sometime in the next six weeks.
The 26-year-old second-rower, even if he is cleared, could miss the start of the 2027 NRL season as Melbourne attempt to right the ship given he won't have been back in to full contact for very long.
The Storm are, while careful, obviously desperate to have Katoa back on the park.
The Tongan representative had developed in to one of the best second-rowers in the game at the end of 2025, where he played in the Melbourne Storm's losing grand final effort.
His absence hurt the Storm in a big way during a difficult 2026 campaign - the first time the Storm had missed the finals under the coaching of Craig Bellamy.
With 118 NRL games under his belt, Katoa, who has played 72 for Melbourne, is off-contract at the end of 2027, and the Storm will likely offer him a new deal if he is able to play on.
