One month after suffering a career-threatening brain injury, Melbourne Storm back-rower Eliesa Katoa admits that he is hopeful of a return to the NRL in the future.

Ruled out of the 2026 NRL season after undergoing emergency surgery to treat a brain bleed, Katoa's future was thrown into immediate doubt, with many believing that he may have played his final match in the 13-man code.

Having spent two weeks in the hospital as he tried to recover from three concussions sustained in an 80-minute period, the back-rower has spoken for the first time, thanking family, fans and friends as well as stating that he'll "be back soon".

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"First of all, I would like to say how grateful I am to get to where I am today," he wrote on social media.

"I wanna say a huge thank you to everyone who prayed, visited, sent me a message and checked in on me. I really appreciate it.

"I'm sorry if I haven't got back to you, I will get back to you guys soon. To all of my family, thank you for the love and support.

"I love playing for our little kingdom. I'm back at home at the moment and I'm in a good place now. My recovery is going well and hopefully I can keep ticking all of the boxes that I need.

"And to the Storm fans, in God's timing 'I'll be back soon'."