The Agenda Setters Rugby League on Channel 7 Craig Bellamy reveals fate of Eli Katoa – Corey Parker, David Riccio, Aaron Woods, and Luke Kear were joined by Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy who exclusively revealed the fate of Eli Katoa and what the new NRL rules mean for the lifespan of player’s careers.
New rules means NRL players’ careers will be shorter.
CB: “The game seems to be speeding up, the tackles on tackles, on tackles… You used to get a penalty and get a bit of a rest. These days it just keeps going. We have to adapt to that as a team, but individuals need to adapt to it as well.”
CP: “Has the game gone too far?”
CB: “I think a little bit. It will be interesting to see in ten years time if it stays the same. Whether players’ careers are as long as they are now. The quicker the game gets, the more stress it is on the body, and perhaps injures and burning out earlier. Doing that sort of distance at that sort of pace is going to take something out. At the end of the day, I can’t answer it, but in ten years time, we might be in a different place.”
Craig Bellamy exclusively reveals Eli Katoa’s Rugby League career is likely over due to injury
AW: “Can you give us an update on where Eli Katoa is at? How is his recovery progressing and will we see him playing back at the Storm next year?”
CB: “He’s doing really well at the moment, He’s coming in every day. We’ve given him a role will our edge back rowers to take them under his wing – young Cooper Clarke.”
AW: “He’s been outstanding.”
CB: “He has, and we have to give Eli a lot of wraps for that – even with Joey Chan and Valu (Lisati), he’s helped them out a whole heap as well. That’s the good news.
I don’t know if he’ll play next year… I don’t know if he’ll play again. The doctors haven’t made that decision, and I don’t know when that decision will get made to be quite honest. I imagine after a certain amount of time he’ll have more tests and go from there. It was a major injury, and we want him to live the rest of his life in a normal way. So fingers cross. But we’d love to have him back playing footy, and playing with us. He was one hell of a player. Last year he won our player of the year.”
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The Agenda Setters Rugby League on Channel 7 Craig Bellamy reveals fate of Eli Katoa
