NRL to clear Tonga coach Kristian Woolf over Tonga star’s head injuries
Questions were raised at the time about why the independent doctor did not intervene after watching the pre-match collision on air.
Katoa took to social media over the weekend to praise Tonga and Storm for the care they took towards him and his family, telling fans: “I will be back soon”.
Ricky Stuart and Craig Bellamy leave NRL HQ on Tuesday.Credit: Sam Mooy
The NRL completed its investigation almost two weeks ago but delayed making the findings public until it knew Katoa would make a full recovery. Katoa was not interviewed so he could focus on his recovery.
Meanwhile, six of the game’s top coaches – Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy, Michael Maguire, Ivan Cleary, Ricky Stuart and Craig Fitzgibbon – spent several hours at the NRL’s Moore Park headquarters on Tuesday learning about the proposed rule changes.
The coaches also took the opportunity to voice some of their own concerns, including how to best ensure consistency in the dugout and what it means for a player to be inducted.
Bennett came up against former Queenslander captain Daly Cherry-Evans, who had joined the Sydney Roosters, arch-nemeses of Bennett’s South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Nice to see you here: Daly Cherry-Evans crosses paths with Wayne Bennett outside NRL HQ on Tuesday.Credit: Sam Mooy
NRL club CEOs will meet on Wednesday and Thursday, with Perth Bears boss Anthony De Ceglie making his first presentation to colleagues and newly arrived Manly chief Jason King discussing the game’s latest integrity projects.
Channel Nine’s head of broadcasting, Amanda Laing, who owns this byline, is also scheduled to address club chiefs.
Croker’s concussion battle ends in medical retirement
Dan Walsh
Debilitating post-concussion symptoms that left Manly hooker Lachlan Croker seasick for six weeks forced him into rugby league retirement aged just 28.
Lachlan Croker was left in even worse shape following his collision with Canberra’s Josh Papalii in 2024.Credit: Getty Images
The Sea Eagles confirmed Croker’s medical retirement on Monday, giving the club more salary cap space; Additionally, a similar decision was made for Josh Aloiai, whose estimated $500,000 per year deal for 2026 and 2027 was cut short due to an ongoing shoulder injury.
Recently re-signed No.9 Jake Simpkin (extended until the end of 2028) is shaping up as Anthony Seibold’s first-choice hooker next season, with Zach Dockar-Clay joining the club from the Roosters as a backup.
Manly have high hopes that rising playmaker Ashton Large, younger brother of Onitoni, can also emerge as a long-term hook option.
Croker is retiring with one year left on his contract. He made just four appearances in 2025 after a seemingly harmless head knock in training in June triggered a recurrence of the symptoms that laid him out a year ago.
A clash with former Raiders teammate Josh Papalii in May 2024 initially sidelined Croker for three months as he struggled with the after-effects.
“Four or five days later [the head clash in 2024]”I couldn’t leave my room,” Croker said. “I couldn’t keep my eyes open; the light would kill me. Then after two or three weeks it turned into dizziness.
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“I basically felt seasick 24/7. That lasted for about six weeks and then I felt normal. [when] I’m not doing anything. However, when I started training, the symptoms appeared again.
“I mean, it’s been such a long time. When you stay like this for so long, you forget what normal is like.”
“This year, when it happened again, three or four weeks later, I said: ‘I don’t want to live like this.’ “This was a wise and correct decision for myself, my family and the club.”
Croker has now “put the tears and the sad side of things behind him” and has taken up a coaching role with Manly’s SG Ball team alongside former team-mates Brad Parker, Jack and Cooper Johns. He has played all 125 NRL games for the Sea Eagles since making his debut for Canberra in 2016.
The Sea Eagles attempted to sign Tallyn da Silva when he left Wests Tigers last year and have also expressed interest in new Cowboys hooker Reed Mahoney, but will prioritize strengthening the centre-forward and back row rather than looking for a No.9 at this stage.
Souths international Davvy Moale will join the club on a three-year contract in 2027, but a long-awaited early transfer has yet to be finalized as Manly want him to pay some of his 2026 wages to the Rabbitohs.
Manly remain open to the early release of veteran forward Nathan Brown after talks with the Wests Tigers over a proposed swap deal for Jack Bird stalled.
Experienced player Matt Lodge will also continue next season and the 30-year-old will transfer to North Queensland after Manly offered him a one-year extension.
Halfback Jamal Fogarty (Canberra), lock Kobe Hetherington (Broncos) and winger Blake Wilson (Bulldogs) are notable names in the ongoing squad overhaul following the departure of Daly Cherry-Evans.
