{"id":116398,"date":"2025-09-03T19:21:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/116398\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T19:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:21:16","slug":"who-is-heamasi-makasini-wests-tigers-teenager-set-for-eagerly-anticipated-nrl-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/116398\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Heamasi Makasini? Wests Tigers teenager set for eagerly anticipated NRL debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-end=\"235\" data-start=\"52\">Wests Tigers prodigy Heamasi Makasini will make his NRL debut this weekend, named on the wing to face Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>At just 18, the outside back is already one of the most talked-about teenagers in Australian rugby league, with hype surrounding his potential long before his first-grade bow.<\/p>\n<p>Makasini comes in for Jeral Skelton, who has been sidelined by concussion protocols. The youngster has already made a splash in the NSW Cup, where in just four appearances for Western Suburbs this season, he scored a try and averaged more than 100 running metres a game.<\/p>\n<p>MORE:\u00a0<a target=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/au\/rugby-league\/news\/nrl-team-lists-mail-round-27-2025-lineups-injuries-suspensions\/917ac0e9098a3e396b7bf27c\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NRL team lists: Every side\u2019s confirmed lineup for Round 27<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Million-dollar schoolboy turned Tiger<\/p>\n<p>The Campbelltown junior\u2019s rise has been meteoric. While still in Year 11 at Newington College, he penned a three-year Wests Tigers deal reportedly worth over $1 million, holding off strong interest from rugby union.<\/p>\n<p>His manager Mario Tartak said at the time: \u201cAthletically, Heamasi is next level. He has just turned 17, is still in Year 11, has the world at his feet and wants to be a Wests Tiger. Honestly, he\u2019s got it all. He\u2019s definitely a gem. He reminds some of a young Folau or a young Inglis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Born in Orange, of Tongan heritage, Makasini has represented Australia in rugby union at under-18 level, famously scoring in a historic win against New Zealand Schools. But he made clear his heart lies in league. \u201cI have been with this club since I was 14 and it has been so important to my rugby league journey over the past three years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with comparisons to greats like Greg Inglis and Israel Folau already swirling, Makasini steps into the NRL spotlight, with a fanbase eager to see if the hype translates to first-grade magic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wests Tigers prodigy Heamasi Makasini will make his NRL debut this weekend, named on the wing to face&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-116398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}