{"id":817920,"date":"2026-07-23T03:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/817920\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T03:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:34:13","slug":"nrl-2026-wests-tigers-coach-benji-marshall-debut-javon-andrews-after-his-comeback-from-a-broken-neck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/817920\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall debut Javon Andrews after his comeback from a broken neck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tigers rookie Javon Andrews is set to make his NRL debut this weekend <\/a>against Canberra as a 19-year-old but it\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s been far from smooth sailing to reach this point.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2021, Andrews ran out onto the field to represent Logan Brothers in a routine rugby league match against Souths Logan Magpies.<\/p>\n

Attempting to cross the line for a try, Andrews was tackled into the goalposts head-on, subsequently fracturing his C4 and C5 vertebrae<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While he didn\u2019t know the severity of the injury at the time, he would spend the next three weeks in the hospital before wearing a halo brace for the following several months.<\/p>\n

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At the time, doctors said he would never play again, but he defied the odds and returned to the field at the start of 2023 after Two-and-a-half years out of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a junior reps footy game, and I got tackled into the pole during the game \u2013 head-on. It went straight through the padding gap and hit it straight into the pole,\u201d Andrews told foxsports.com.au in his first interview since signing an NRL contract with the Wests Tigers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very young and doctors said I couldn\u2019t play again, so it\u2019s been a long journey. I did do a lot of psychological stuff because my brother grew up with a coach who did some psychological stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe helped me a lot with getting my mind and knowing that the neck\u2019s fine and I\u2019m good to go, so that helped me a lot for my first couple of games back, and after that, the love of the game comes back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Javon Andrews is preparing for his NRL debut.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n

Millimetres away from never being able to walk again, let alone play, Andrews credits his family as the biggest helpers during that difficult period of his life.<\/p>\n

This includes his mother, father, older brother and younger sister, all of whom helped make his life easier during those 30 months away from the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough time but my mum and dad just helped me through it. I\u2019m truly grateful for them,\u201d the rookie playmaker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum has that soft spot for me that (was like) you don\u2019t have to do this [play rugby league], and I feel like that first game back, she was very nervous. So was my dad but he said make sure you\u2019re ready and just be on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said I was a bad child but I don\u2019t know about that. My dad is the reason why I play footy, and my mum just keeps me grounded and makes sure that I always have stuff outside of footy, like schooling and business-wise.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in my family has played a key role. My younger sister and older brother also played a big role in their own ways. That\u2019s just from them making jokes and just spending a good time together or going to breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benji reacts to Tigers’ late meltdown | 04:22<\/p>\n

Five years on from sustaining that career-threatening neck injury, Andrews is now days away from his NRL debut.<\/p>\n

Andrews has been lighting the turf up in reserve grade, leading the NSW Cup in try assists, although that may be understating it.<\/p>\n

Andrews\u2019 23 try assists is eight more than the next best Alex Conti\u2019s 15.<\/p>\n

With Adam Doueihi and Latu Fainu facing suspensions <\/a>for incidents against the Bulldogs last weekend, Andrews was named to make his debut against the Raiders.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Andrews was named in the No. 7 jersey with Doueihi and Fainu in the extended reserves. <\/p>\n

After a mixed night at the judiciary which saw Fainu suspended and Doueihi cleared<\/a>, it\u2019s anticipated that Andrews will be dropped to the bench to accommodate Doueihi, although Marshall wasn\u2019t giving much away in his press conference on Thursday. <\/p>\n

The Tigers coach touched on the young Queenslander\u2019s brave journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was here in the junior levels then he broke his neck and went back up to the Gold Coast with his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was in the Queensland under 19\u2019s team that won a couple of years ago and we liked what we saw from him so he came down and had a pre-season with us, played well in Cup and has earned an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Javon Andrews in action for Queensland during the under 19s State of Origin match last year (Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Starting on a development contract with the club this season, Andrews will then be promoted to the club\u2019s Top 30 roster for the following two seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off here when I was younger then went back to the Titans but to come back it\u2019s good. The culture is what really brought me back and seeing Benji talk about how we are the future was good,\u201d Andrews added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey gave me the opportunity to finally be in a full-time system and to run out with them would be very special for me and my family.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueensland is my home, but when I spoke to Benji, I knew this was a place I wanted to be playing for and who I wanted to be playing for. It\u2019s tough sometimes (being away from my family), but they\u2019ve always called every day and always check in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I stepped in, Latu and all the other boys helped me settle in and know the rules. <\/p>\n

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Then Romey and AD have been guiding me and I\u2019m making sure I\u2019m learning off all of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make my debut in (2026), and that\u2019s what I\u2019m looking forward to, but I want to try to make sure my defence is as strong as possible. Attack-wise, making sure that I use everyone in their strengths as well as my strengths.<\/p>\n

Previously with the Gold Coast Titans in their academy system, the Logan Brothers and Souths Acacia Ridge junior is coming off a strong past 12 months.<\/p>\n

Not only did Andrews captain the Titans in the Under-20s NRLQ Series, but he also went on to make his QLD Cup debut and, more importantly, helped lead Queensland to the Under-19s State of Origin title, in which he was named Player of the Match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was very special,\u201d he continued about representing Queensland in 2025 alongside the likes of Coby Black, Cooper Bai, Jai Bowden and Phillip Coates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Darius Boyd called me, my heart dropped. I was just so grateful and to win it was the cherry on top.<\/p>\n

\u201c100 per cent (I want to represent the Maroons on the Origin arena). When you play those games, you feel the tension between the two states and it\u2019s just something you want to play again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tigers rookie Javon Andrews is set to make his NRL debut this weekend against Canberra as a 19-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-817920","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\/817920","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=817920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}