It was a play so improbable, so unlikely and it sent the NRL world \u2018Leka-crazy\u2019 for the following 48 hours. <\/p>\n
In his first New Zealand interview of the season, Halasima admits it is still a special memory. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know [how it happened],\u201d Halasima told the Herald. <\/p>\n
\u201cLike when the ball came to me, I didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halasima was seemingly covered \u2013 with three defenders in the vicinity. His sharp acceleration took him away but there was still so much to do. <\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was swarming and everything, I just had to back myself and run,\u201d says Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just run straight and try to beat the fullback, but when I put it down, I was like, holy, I didn\u2019t know how I would get here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as giving the Warriors a last-gasp victory, the sensational sequence only adding to the exploding hype about the 19-year-old. <\/p>\n
Leka Halasima makes the break that leads to him scoring the winning try against Newcastle Photo: David Neilson \/ www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n
It also made him off-limits to media for the rest of the season, as all requests were politely turned down, with the club keen to protect him from the spotlight, aware of the dangers. <\/p>\n
But Halasima says the attention and fame \u2013 including being recognised on the streets all around Auckland, in Sydney and in Brisbane \u2013 hasn\u2019t had an impact. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, it doesn\u2019t really get to me,\u201d says Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still the same person who I am now. I\u2019m just being myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
That has been backed up by teammates and club officials, who say Halasima has barely changed. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s more confident \u2013 and a bit more vocal \u2013 but otherwise the same humble kid that turned up from M\u0101ngere East Hawks five or six years ago. <\/p>\n
That bodes well, as the expectation and pressure will only increase from here, after a stunning campaign. <\/p>\n
Halasima had turned heads last season \u2013 going oh-so-close to a remarkable debut try against the Bulldogs \u2013 but was restricted to four interchange appearances towards the end of the season. <\/p>\n
This year he has become a mainstay, making 25 appearances.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the first round, when I got picked, I just wanted to prove myself,\u201d said Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat I can stay in this team, staying in the main team and starting as well. I wanted to prove to myself that I could keep my spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halasima has done much more than that, becoming one of the Warriors\u2019 greatest attacking weapons. <\/p>\n
He scored a team high 13 tries and many were highlight reel moments \u2013 from the bullocking sideline run against the Tigers in round four to the impressive double against the Eels two weeks ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah it is pretty special,\u201d laughed Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cThirteen tries – hopefully more to come next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
But his favourite memories from a standout season aren\u2019t what you might think. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s about my tries or on-field stuff,\u201d said Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy favourite moments are playing with new players that I\u2019ve met and playing with [the] brothers as well, having that connection and bond. They were the best moments that I had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halasima has also enjoyed performing for his family, both here and in Tonga. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are proud,\u201d said Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re always backing me as well, every game. My mum always sends me messages for two days before the game, saying \u2018good luck, son\u2019 and \u2018all the best and stay safe\u2019. Then after the game she\u2019ll say \u2018good game\u2019 and everything.\u201d <\/p>\n
Like everyone in the squad, Halasima took defeat hard last Saturday, as the season ended at the hands of Penrith. <\/p>\n
Given little hope before the match, the Warriors fronted up but the experience and professionalism of the Panthers was ultimately the difference in the 24-8 defeat. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys went after them, the way we were prepping through the week,\u201d said Halasima. \u201cIt felt like we did good, but we didn\u2019t get the result that we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Publicly, Halasima was a late switch to centre, though he says coach Andrew Webster informed him last Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was low key nervous but had it under my belt,\u201d said Halasima. <\/p>\n
\u201cI played centres when I was young. I felt like I still had it. I wasn\u2019t too bothered \u2013 it was just another job.”<\/p>\n
He acquitted himself well \u2013 carrying for 128m, a constant threat on the edge and scoring an impressive try, even if there were a couple of handling lapses towards the end.<\/p>\n
Halasima will now enjoy a couple of weeks off, likely to head to Melbourne to see his partner. She has visited Auckland \u201caround 10 times\u201d this year but otherwise they have maintained a long-distance relationship.<\/p>\n
Halasima should feature for Tonga in the Pacific Championships \u2013 \u201cI\u2019ll see how it goes \u2013 if I get picked or not\u201d \u2013 before another pre-season rolls round.<\/p>\n
Halasima has a lot in front of him \u2013 and could be anything \u2013 but the 2025 season will always be remembered as the one that established the legend. <\/p>\n
Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a play so improbable, so unlikely and it sent the NRL world \u2018Leka-crazy\u2019 for the following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[4891,1914,64,63,22675,98635,26187,98633,21814,98636,13057,5405,98632,1000,10675,98631,98637,761,762,10668,158,1787,57060,161,85,9501,320,3198,15340,3605,98634,3205],"class_list":["post-145632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-4891","tag-against","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boom","tag-dealing","tag-discusses","tag-established","tag-fame","tag-favourite","tag-first","tag-found","tag-halasima","tag-interview","tag-legend","tag-leka","tag-memories","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newcastle","tag-nrl","tag-of","tag-remarkable","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-that","tag-the","tag-warriors","tag-was","tag-with","tag-youngster","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145632","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=145632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}