Wellington's Sione Katoa made his NRL debut back in 2015, didn't play another NRL game until round six this year and the Penrith Panthers dummy half is still just 22 years-old. While Katoa played 20 minutes in round six off the bench for Penrith, an injury to Peter Wallace and illness to Mitch Rein saw Katoa slot right in at hooker for 80 minutes.

It's the waiting game for Mitch Rein and Peter Wallace as Sione Katoa gets a shot against Souths... #NRLSouthsPanthers #pantherpride 🐾 pic.twitter.com/c7vesekJ5W
— Penrith Panthers (@PenrithPanthers) July 2, 2017

Penrith got smoked in that game by a rampant Rabbitohs side, yet this was Katoa seizing his opportunity and putting himself back into the conversation of an already cluttered dummy half group at Penrith. In those 80 minutes against the Bunnies, Katoa had just 2 runs for 19m and missed 6 tackles (made 33). Coming off the bench against Manly last week, Katoa only played 32 minutes but put in a equal or better shift with 3 runs for 15m and just 1 missed tackle (of 11) and here he is; settling into a Penrith bench spot for round 19 and possibly beyond.

Katoa came into my scope when he made the 2015 Junior Kiwis team, replacing Manaia Cherrington (2014) as the starting hooker and keeping Danny Levi on the bench despite Levi also coming off the bench in 2014. This 2015 JK team was no joke and from that team, the following players have gone on to play NRL footy; Jamayne Isaako (named to make debut in round 19), Taane Milne, Joseph Manu, Te Maire Martin, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, James Fisher-Harris, Lamar Liolevave, Jazz Tevaga, Danny Levi, Toafofoa Sipley.

The likes of Marata Niukore, Zach Dockar-Clay and Braden Uele have also featured on extended benches this season. Back to the topic...

Coming out of St Bernard's College in Wellington, after his debut Katoa quickly found himself kicking back with his Junior Kiwi comrade Dockar-Clay after he moved to Parramatta to Penrith and targeted a dummy half spot as his best bet of NRL game time. Wallace was established as an 80 minute hooker for the Panthers and Penrith still went out to snap up Rein from the Dragons after he didn't get the deal he wanted from them.

That's four decent hooking options, which soon became three after Dockar-Clay was granted a release to go join Hull KR in the Super League. Katoa started the season as skipper of Penrith's reserve grade side and when picking a captain for a reserve grade team, you tend to lean towards players who are going to play big minutes, but also play for that team most weeks.

There's not much point in selecting a skipper who is obviously on the cusp of NRL footy as they are likely to be in and out of the reserve's team, so Katoa was a sound option as he must have impressed Penrith's decision-makers and he'd consistently be a part of that team.
Yet Katoa wasn't even playing hooker as captain, he had to slip back to lock as the Panthers had all hands on deck. Wallace was starting and playing 80mins in the NRL, keeping Rein in reserve grade and as long as that was the case, Katoa was the third-ranked hooker at Penrith.

Hence I found it intriguing that Katoa was re-signed on a two-year deal on June 29. The week before that, Katoa was in his usual spot: 13. Sione Katoa (c) and here Penrith was throwing two more years at Katoa despite Penrith having both Wallace and Rein on their books until the end of 2018.

It makes sense to re-sign a youngster who has shown versatility and leadership in reserve grade. Re-signing Katoa is a big ol' nod in his favour and the stars aligned for Katoa after signing on with Penrith as Wallace got injured and Dean Whare's also spending a few weeks on the sidelines. Tyrone Peachey takes Whare's centre spot, leaving Katoa as the best fit to play the bench utility role. He split minutes with Rein (48/32) last week and is likely to do the same until Wallace returns; Wallace and Whare should return in the next few weeks.

With all their troops on board, Katoa is likely to slip back into reserve grade and Rein could go with him. Katoa can't really get a look in as a gritty forward either, despite his locking experience in reserve grade as Penrith rely on big minutes from their four-man middle rotation of James Tamou, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Trent Merrin and Leilani Latu.

There could be a sneaky chance for Katoa to do his best Peachey impersonation and he's more suited to Peachey's style than Rein is. Katoa can play as a mobile, roving middle forward, as long as Peachey is playing centre. That's unlikely though and when the dust settles, expect to see Katoa resume status-quo in reserve grade.

Right now, Katoa has a window of a few weeks in which he can showcase his talents and help Penrith win footy games. If Penrith are winning, then that reflects well on Katoa as Wallace was part of their slumpy-slump at the start of the season. Having recently been re-signed, it's hakuna matata for Katoa though as he can do his best in this window of opportunity knowing that Penrith have invested in his future.

By the time Wallace and Rein are off-contract, Katoa could have established himself as the best dummy half at Penrith and he may be their 80 minute hooker who takes them into the future. Don't sleep on the prospect of Penrith moving Wallace or Rein on before their contract's are up either as they haven't been afraid to do that in the past.

For now, he's the third-ranked hooker who will make way for the senior lads when Penrith have their full-strength roster back in tact. Enjoy the Katoa window over the next few weeks and keep an eye on his performances as strange things could happen if he's able to make a difference.

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