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

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays on the for the

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

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

Background

Katoa was born in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) 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, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

and is of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n descent. Katoa moved to

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

in 2003 aged 6. He was a student at

Barker College Barker College is an independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school, located in Hornsby, New ...

where he played in the

First XV Rugby union is a team sport played between two teams of fifteen (15) players. This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of rugby union. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in i ...

rugby union team. He played his junior rugby league for the Chester Hill Hornets. 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 (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

junior systems before being signed by the

Katoa played for the

NYC 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 last played in the National Rugby League (NRL) as a er for the Dolphins (NRL), Dolphins. Lee previously played for the Newcastle Knights, the Cronull ...

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. Early life and ed ...

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 city 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 (last known as 1300SMILES Stadium due to naming rights) was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Que ...

. 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 reserve ...

. 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 Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

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 Syd ...

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 an Australian rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Greater Western Sydney, Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in vari ...

at the new

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...

. 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 ...

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 Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

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 Wick ...

as Cronulla defeated Canterbury 20–18 at

Bankwest Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...

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 is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

, 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 The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

, Katoa scored a

in Cronulla's 38–16 victory over the

New Zealand Warriors The 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 the Aucklan ...

. On 19 July, Katoa was ruled out for the rest of the

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 The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Katoa scored a

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

. Katoa played a total of 25 games for Cronulla in the

and scored 13 tries as Cronulla finished sixth on the table. Katoa played in the clubs 13-12 upset loss against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

which ended their season.

2024

In round 8 of the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

, Katoa scored two tries for Cronulla in their 40-0 victory over Canberra. In round 13, Katoa scored two tries for Cronulla in their upset 34-22 loss against Parramatta. In round 19, he scored two tries for Cronulla in their 58-6 victory over the Wests Tigers. Katoa played 24 matches for Cronulla in the

and scored 17 tries as the club finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals. Katoa played in all three of Cronulla's finals matches including their preliminary final loss against Penrith.

2025

On 24 February, it was announced that Katoa would be ruled out indefinitely from playing after requiring shoulder surgery. In round 15, Katoa scored two tries for Cronulla in their 30-18 victory over rivals St. George Illawarra.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct as of the end of round 12 2024''

International

References

External links

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katoa, Sione 1997 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Newtown Jets NSW Cup players People educated at Barker College Rugby league players from Hamilton, New Zealand Rugby league wingers Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players