Rising Tongan star Isaiya Katoa has buried his demons from earlier in the year by stepping up at the death and booting a match-winning field goal against New Zealand on Saturday night.
Dolphins halfback Katoa had the chance to upset the dynasty Panthers in Round 20 of the NRL season but he opted against putting the result on his boot.
Katoa had a golden opportunity to win the game in the final minute but instead of taking a field goal shot in front of the posts, from just 12 metres out, he inexplicably kicked to the corner.
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Penrith superstar Nathan Cleary then broke Dolphins hearts in golden point with an epic 43-metre golden point field goal to pull off a 28-26 victory.
But Tonga coach and now Dolphins head coach Kristian Woolf said Katoa’s match-winning play proved he’ll be an “elite” NRL halfback one day.
“Our 20-year-old halfback, he got some things wrong against the Australians (two weeks ago) and he could have very easily gone into his shell and stopped trying to have the influence on the game that you need your halfback to have,” Woolf said.
“I was very proud of how he responded, he just showed so much maturity and why he’s going to be an elite halfback.
“His whole game, the way he controlled the game and the way he put things together and under pressure to show that calmness and kick the point at the end just shows what he’s capable of.”
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Woolf revealed his advice to Katoa after his forgettable performance against the Kangaroos last month was simple.
“The really good thing about (the Australia game) was he was seeing the opportunities but he didn’t quite execute some of them,” he said.
“My message to him was simple – keep playing footy. Not all halves can see what he can see and it’s ok to get them wrong sometimes, that’s human nature and that’s what your best players do, they learn from it and get it right the next week and that’s what he’s done.”
The victory was Tonga’s first over a tier-one nation in five years and booked them a spot in the Pacific Championships final against Australia next Sunday.
“This is unforgettable,” captain Addin Fonua-Blake said.
“We wanted to fight fire with fire. We knew New Zealand had a world-class front row and team.
“They came back, it shows how gutsy they are. They can hold their heads up high. It was a great game.”
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