{"id":369520,"date":"2025-12-24T20:26:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T20:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/369520\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T20:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T20:26:34","slug":"nrl-news-2025-justin-holbrook-and-the-newcastle-knights-receive-an-exemption-to-present-train-and-trial-deal-to-joseph-suaalii-like-teen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/369520\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2025 | Justin Holbrook and the Newcastle Knights receive an exemption to present train and trial deal to Joseph Suaalii-like teen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL<\/a> has officially granted teen sensation Kingston Seve an exemption to train with Newcastle<\/a>‘s NRL squad.<\/p>\n

Seve becomes only the second 17-year-old in NRL history to be given the greenlight to train full time with grown men, following in the footsteps of dual-code superstar Joseph Suaalii<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great boost for the young guy and will help fast track his professional development,” a delighted Knights coach Justin Holbrook<\/a> told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Collins breaks silence on Australian Open absence<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Liverpool rocked as $258m recruit undergoes surgery<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Verstappen’s damning insight into scandal that shook up title race<\/a><\/p>\n

“You only worry about players his age if they are not physically ready and he is certainly that.<\/p>\n

“He is big and strong and keen to learn so he will be joining the NRL squad when we resume training in January.”<\/p>\n

\"Kingston<\/p>\n

Kingston Seve, a former Dolphins junior.\u00a0Instagram Kingston Seve<\/p>\n

But Holbrook is in no hurry to rush the boom youngster into the NRL.<\/p>\n

“He will probably start next year in the SG Ball and then play some NSW Cup against grown men,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We will most likely wait until 2027 to blood him in the NRL and see how he goes.”<\/p>\n

Seve’s manager Mario Tartak likens the strongly built centre to a young Suaalii.<\/p>\n

“There are definitely similarities there in terms of size, skills and maturity,” Tartak said.<\/p>\n

“Everyone knew early on that Sua’ali’i would be a special talent and I think it will be the same with Kingston.”<\/p>\n

Maroons great reveals health battle<\/p>\n

Former Queensland Origin utility<\/a> and Cowboys<\/a> captain Adrian Vowles has revealed he underwent open heart surgery after doctors discovered an abnormality that had gone undiagnosed his entire life.<\/p>\n

“I was born with a faulty valve in my heart – I knew nothing about it until recently when I started to feel poorly and doctors found the problem and I underwent a bypass,” the 54-year-old, who also played Test football for Scotland, said.<\/p>\n

“It was the hardest hurdle I have had and I had some pretty dark days in hospital. Going from training most days to being flat on your back full of drugs, plus getting a clot in my calf and then into my lung must have made my body wonder what I was doing to it.<\/p>\n

“I had never been fitter or stronger than I have this year post football but I knew something wasn’t right and thankfully got it checked.<\/p>\n

“A long recovery but so glad to be home again in my own house and bed. Have turned back time with Mum looking after me again.”<\/p>\n

\"Adrian<\/p>\n

Adrian Vowles in action for the Castleford Tigers.\u00a0PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Dragons lose another young talent<\/p>\n

The Dragons<\/a> have lost another of their promising juniors – former Harold Matthews Player of the Year Alex Futialo.<\/p>\n

The big, raw-boned 18-year-old prop has gone to the Tigers … with a catch.<\/p>\n

Futialo has only signed a one-year deal as he is attracting plenty of interest from the rugby union ranks.<\/p>\n

And with Perth entering the premiership in 2027 when he is a free agent, don’t be surprised if Mal Meninga calls the boom front-rower for a sneaky chat.<\/p>\n

Latrell’s cousin returns to the game<\/p>\n

Latrell Mitchell<\/a>‘s cousin has decided to make a comeback to the game after taking a two-year break to sort out his life off the field.<\/p>\n

Ethan Ferguson had the league world at his feet at Souths in 2023, playing for the NSW Blues in under-19 Origin and winning Australian Schoolboys selection.<\/p>\n

But he has prioritised his mental health over the past couple of years and now at 21, has signed with the Tweed Seagulls.<\/p>\n

The Seagulls are a feeder team for the Gold Coast Titans so the youngster could find himself back on track for the NRL if he impresses in the Queensland Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL has officially granted teen sensation Kingston Seve an exemption to train with Newcastle‘s NRL squad. Seve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-369520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369520","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=369520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}