{"id":534912,"date":"2026-03-12T05:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534912\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T05:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:59:10","slug":"wests-tigers-sensationheamasi-makasini-leaving-rugby-union-on-the-table-for-2027-contract-november-1-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534912\/","title":{"rendered":"Wests Tigers sensationHeamasi Makasini leaving rugby union on the table for 2027, contract, November 1, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dual sport star Heamasi Makasini says a move to rugby union in 2027 is still on the table as the teen sensation prepares for his second NRL game this weekend.<\/p>\n

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Following an outstanding pre-season, coach Benji Marshall just couldn\u2019t resist picking the talented young gun in his backline for the Tigers\u2019 season opener against North Queensland on Saturday. <\/p>\n

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Makasini was on the outside looking in of Marshall\u2019s starting side heading into the pre-season, but after four tries in two trials, including a freakish effort against Penrith, the Tigers coach had no choice.<\/p>\n

Speaking to foxsports.com.au<\/a> in February, Makasini, who has starred at Australian schoolboys level in the 15-man code, said that at the moment his \u201cheart\u2019s with rugby league\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the 19-year-old isn\u2019t certain where his future lies.<\/p>\n

Heamasi Makasini scores an epic try in the Pre-Season Challenge.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Given he\u2019s a free agent at the end of 2027, he\u2019ll be able negotiate with rival NRL teams and rugby union clubs domestically and internationally are sure to be interested too. <\/p>\n

Makasini told Code Sports <\/a>that there\u2019s a lot he wants to achieve in rugby league first but he\u2019s open to a switch.<\/p>\n

\u201c100 per cent it\u2019s (union) an option,\u201d Makasini said. <\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying union more than league throughout that (contract) season, my heart, my mind was leaning towards union but then I was just thinking about the Tigers, they were building special things and I just wanted to be a part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made the right decision because the club is heading the right way. They just brought me on to bigger and better things and Benji is doing magnificent work.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there is a lot to play out, if Makasini does switch codes to rugby union, he\u2019d be the latest in a list of NRL players to do so, a list that includes Mark Nawaqanitawase, Zac Lomax and Angus Crichton, all of whom are set to cross over at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dual sport star Heamasi Makasini says a move to rugby union in 2027 is still on the table…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4558,64,63,9421,265481,763,5091,265478,159,2633,224646,33195,265480,12008,85,265477,82758,211650,265479,4515],"class_list":["post-534912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alex-johnston","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-benji-marshall","tag-dual-sport-star","tag-fox-league","tag-ken-irvine","tag-leaving-rugby-union","tag-rugby-league","tag-rugby-union","tag-rugby-union-clubs","tag-season-opener","tag-sensation-leaves","tag-special-things","tag-sports","tag-starting-side-heading","tag-teen-sensation","tag-try-scorer","tag-try-scoring","tag-wests-tigers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534912","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=534912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}