Sione Katoa (born 21 August 1997) is a Tonga international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays on the for the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Katoa was born in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's fou ...

and is of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n descent. Katoa moved to

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

in 2003 aged 6. He played his junior rugby league for the

Chester Hill Hornets Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Local ...

. Katoa was part of the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

junior systems before being signed by the

Katoa played for the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team in 2016–2017, scoring 44 tries in 49 matches. On 4 September 2017, Katoa was named on the wing in the 2017 Holden Cup Team of the Year.

Playing career

2018

After impressing in the pre-season trials for the Sharks, Katoa had beaten the likes of

Edrick Lee Edrick Lee (born 18 September 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Dolphins (NRL), Dolphins in the National Rugby League, NRL. Lee previously played for the Canberra Raiders, Cronulla-Sutherland ...

and

Aaron Gray Aaron Michael Gray (born December 7, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A heart condition forced him into early retirement in 2015. High school care ...

to the vacant wing spot for Round 1. In Round 1 of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

, Katoa made his

debut for the

against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

, starting on the wing and had a solid performance before leaving the field with a suspected broken jaw in the second half as the Sharks were defeated 20–14 at

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through Naming rights, sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground o ...

. Katoa ended the season playing for Cronulla's feeder club side Newtown in the

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

. Katoa played on the wing for Newtown in their 2018

grand final loss to

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney S ...

2019

Katoa made 7 appearances for Cronulla-Sutherland in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

but mainly spent much of the year playing for the club's feeder side Newtown in the

Canterbury Cup NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. Katoa played for Newtown in their 2019

grand final victory over the

Wentworthville Magpies The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions an ...

at the new

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium ...

. The following week, Katoa played for Newtown in the

NRL State Championship The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand F ...

victory over the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

2020

In round 6 of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

, Katoa scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

as Cronulla defeated Canterbury 20–18 at

Bankwest Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadi ...

2021

In round 19 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, he scored two tries for Cronulla in a 44–24 victory over

. In round 23 against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

, Katoa scored two tries for Cronulla in a 50–20 victory. In round 25, Katoa scored two tries for Cronulla in a 26–18 loss against Melbourne. He played 13 games for Cronulla and scored nine tries in the

which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table.

2022

In round 14 of the 2022 NRL season, Katoa scored a

in Cronulla's 38–16 victory over the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

. On 19 July, Katoa was ruled out for the rest of the 2022 NRL season with a pectoral injury.

2023

On 30 March, Katoa signed a three-year contract extension to remain at Cronulla until the end of 2026. In round 19 of the 2023 NRL season, Katoa scored a

in Cronulla's 36–12 victory over the bottom placed

. Katoa played a total of 25 games for Cronulla in the 2023 NRL season and scored 13 tries as Cronulla finished sixth on the table. Katoa played in the clubs 13-12 upset loss against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

which ended their season.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct as of the end of round 20 2023''

International

References

External links

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katoa, Sione 1997 births Living people Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league players from Hamilton, New Zealand Rugby league wingers Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players