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The plea comes a day after Tonga’s Eli Katoa was hospitalised after suffering “seizure activity” and brain bleeding following three head knocks during his side’s loss to New Zealand in the Pacific Championships. Katoa posted from hospital on Monday morning and the Storm confirmed in a statement that he was in a stable condition after undergoing surgery on Sunday night. Tonga coach Kristian Woolf defended his side’s medical staff after the game and said that everything had been “done by the book”. Pre-game footage showed Katoa suffer a sickening head knock with teammate Lehi Hopoate which many people assumed would have forced him from the game. But Tongan staff reportedly didn’t perform a head injury assessment, with Katoa able to take his place in the starting side before he was forced off following another head knock in the ninth minute. Katoa ultimately passed that HIA but came from the field midway through the second half where his health rapidly deteriorated following his third head knock in the space of less than two hours. The Storm back-rower required an oxygen mask and was taken from the field in a medi-cab before he was rushed to hospital. “Ensuring a safe environment for players is the remit of the NRL,” Rugby League Players Association chief operating officer Luke Ellis said in a statement. “So along with our own enquiries, we will be trusting them to work through this and understand what occurred.“ Players will never voluntarily rule themselves out of a game with so much on the line, and that’s why Samoan veteran Junior Paulo has implored medical officials to take that out of their hands. “It definitely does (confront you) as a player. Prayers go out to Eli and his family through this tough period,” he said in Sydney ahead of Sunday’s Pacific Championships final against New Zealand. “We as footy players will probably never say no to turning up for your country and getting out there and playing. “But whoever this falls down to, there are protocols around that and should be followed – and they probably were followed. In terms of putting your health before your job, that’s probably the main outcome that we really want to take out of it. “This is not to put pressure on anyone who is in that role to make a call, but I think that’s what probably their role is to do to look after the health and safety of the player first. “Most rugby league players aren’t going to say no (when asked if they don’t want to play) or turn down the opportunity to represent your country or play in the NRL in general. “This is our passion and why we do it so it’s a hard one to stand on. But like I said, there are protocols in place for why you probably shouldn’t be allowed to return to the field, and that’s for the health concerns.” Teammate Jarome Luai held a similar view. “I wasn’t there and I’m not sure what kind of state he was in during the match, but it’s heartbreaking to hear and it’s a plea to look after our players and to ultimately look after yourself,” he said.
