{"id":136655,"date":"2025-09-12T02:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T02:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/136655\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T02:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T02:35:11","slug":"exclusive-leka-halasima-opens-on-his-journey-from-tennis-court-to-rugby-league-stardom-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/136655\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Leka Halasima opens on his journey from tennis court to rugby league stardom – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The favourite to win the Dally M Rookie of the Year award, Leka Halasima<\/a>, has taken the rugby league world by storm this season, but what most people don’t realise is that his sporting career started on the tennis court.<\/p>\n

“Growing up, it was pretty funny because I played tennis. My parents were tennis players, so I played tennis and rugby league at the same time,” Halasima told Zero Tackle.<\/p>\n

Trading the racquet for the rugby league jersey, Halasima has already been described as “freaky” and a “generational talent” by his Warriors teammates, who believe he could be the next Kiwi superstar and the X-factor to decide the 2025 NRL Finals<\/a> series.<\/p>\n

Still pinching himself at times on the field, it wasn’t until two years ago that he had the realisation that he had what it takes to be a regular NRL<\/a> player.<\/p>\n

“When I was 17 and playing Cup, I thought to myself that I can make my debut at 18,” Halasima said.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/a>
JOIN NOW FOR FREE!<\/a><\/p>\n

“I was shocked and happy (when they re-signed me) because I always wanted to play for the Warriors.”<\/p>\n

\"NRLCHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND – FEBRUARY 18: Leka Halasima<\/a> of the Warriors reacts after the loss in the NRL<\/a> Pre-season challenge match between New Zealand Warriors<\/a> and Wests Tigers<\/a> at Apollo Projects Stadium on February 18, 2024, in Christchurch, New Zealand<\/a>. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Part of the next breed of Warriors youngsters who have helped guide them to the 2025 NRL Finals<\/a>, the back-rower has scored 12 tries, made six line-breaks and 606 tackles and averaged 85 running metres per game in his 24 appearances this season.<\/p>\n

However, he admitted that he wouldn’t be here without the sacrifices made by his parents.<\/p>\n

“It was pretty special when I ran out (in my debut). I heard my mum’s voice straight away,” he said.<\/p>\n

“All the sacrifices that she has done. I just want to give back to our family, especially my mum and dad.”<\/p>\n

At only 19, he has been able to break the game open with ease on multiple occasions and has already created an incredible highlight reel.<\/p>\n

This includes a long-range try against the Wests Tigers<\/a> and winning the game against the Newcastle Knights<\/a> with a solo try after the siren.<\/p>\n

“Leka is just a star. Everyone talks about him, and you can see it in his game,” New Zealand Warriors<\/a> captain Mitchell Barnett<\/a> told\u00a0Zero Tackle.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think there’s anyone like him in the NRL<\/a>. He’s his own player.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The favourite to win the Dally M Rookie of the Year award, Leka Halasima, has taken the rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-136655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136655","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=136655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}