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.

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Following an outstanding pre-season, coach Benji Marshall just couldn’t resist picking the talented young gun in his backline for the Tigers’ season opener against North Queensland on Saturday.

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Makasini was on the outside looking in of Marshall’s 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.

Speaking to foxsports.com.au in February, Makasini, who has starred at Australian schoolboys level in the 15-man code, said that at the moment his “heart’s with rugby league”.

However, the 19-year-old isn’t certain where his future lies.

Heamasi Makasini scores an epic try in the Pre-Season Challenge.Source: Getty Images

Given he’s a free agent at the end of 2027, he’ll be able negotiate with rival NRL teams and rugby union clubs domestically and internationally are sure to be interested too.

Makasini told Code Sports that there’s a lot he wants to achieve in rugby league first but he’s open to a switch.

“100 per cent it’s (union) an option,” Makasini said.

“Playing 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.

“I 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.”

While there is a lot to play out, if Makasini does switch codes to rugby union, he’d 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’s end.

‘FOLDED MY YEETH BACK’: GRUESOME MOMENTS BEHIND NRL’S TOUGHEST COACH

Rugby league is littered with courageous stories of players fighting through the pain to help their teams.

There was John Sattler playing through the 1970 grand final with a broken jaw and more recently Sam Burgess breaking his cheekbone in the first play of the 2014 decider only to stay on the field and win the Clive Churchill Medal.

But then there are the stories that aren’t common knowledge, like the player who broke his jaw and then returned to kick a goal in the final minute to win his side the game, or the coach who has a serious knee injury but hasn’t let it slow him down.

That player and coach happen to be the same person, with Craig Fitzgibbon’s courage on the field carrying on to his work with the Sharks where he is still one of the toughest people in the organisation.

The former representative forward played through plenty of injuries, but it was one in 2000 that really stands out in his first season with the Roosters, with the round 9 clash against Newcastle rated the 117th best game in Fox League’s top 150.

Craig Fitzgibbon is still one of the toughest people at the Sharks.Source: Supplied

Fitzgibbon was the victim of a swinging arm from Knights great Tony Butterfield 90 seconds into the second half that broke his jaw and required two trainers to help him off the field because he didn’t want to use the medi-cab.

That should’ve been the end of his night, but the hardworking edge forward returned to the field as Brad Fittler and Robert Miles scored in the final six minutes to tie things at 18-all before Fitzgibbon slotted the tricky conversion from the left to win the game.

When asked what he remembered from that game, Fitzgibbon said “not much” but then revealed the gruesome details of what happened in the sheds, with the workhorse defying the pain to play the following week.

“I wore one across the chin and then the opportunity came to kick a goal. As a goalkicker, you dream of those opportunities. I was only new to the club as well, so to get the chance to kick a winning goal was awesome,” he told the NewsWire.

“I can’t really remember the process, but my teeth got flattened back onto my tongue because I cracked my jaw along the chin line which folded my teeth back.

“I remember going into the sheds and the doc pulling my teeth back out, but there was no HIA (head injury assessment) process.

“I felt all right. I can’t remember it being clearly because it was so long ago, but I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to have stayed off.”

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Injured Cronulla co-captain Cameron McInnes is as tough as they come, with the lock forward giving an insight into what his coach is capable of doing these days despite battling serious bone bruising and cartilage damage in his knee for months.

“I’ve not heard that story, but I know he played pretty busted his whole career, so that doesn’t surprise me. He is really mentally strong,” he said.

“I was a big Roosters fan growing up, so I watched a lot of his games. You wouldn’t know that he has anything going on with injuries because he always just gets on with it.

“I don’t know if it’s common knowledge, but he got his black belt in jujitsu recently and that was with him having a bad knee. He’s a dangerous man.”

Cameron McInnes is as tough as they come.Source: Getty Images

‘NO TRIES’: ROOSTERS DON’T WANT TO BE PART OF NRL HISTORY

Roosters coach Trent Robinson says Alex Johnston’s impending record-breaking moment hasn’t been discussed at training because his side doesn’t plan on the Rabbitohs winger becoming the game’s most prolific try-scorer.

Johnston is one shy of Ken Irvine’s 212-try tally, with Friday night’s blockbuster between the game’s fiercest rivals seemingly the perfect place for him to break the record and add another chapter to the Book of Feuds.

It would be extra spicy if it were to happen at Allianz Stadium given the ongoing turf war between the two clubs as the Bunnies try to take home games to the Moore Park precinct.

The Roosters haven’t had any team meetings about ensuring Johnston doesn’t break the record on Friday, with Robinson hoping he can watch history get made from the comfort of his couch next week when Souths take on the Wests Tigers.

“To be honest, that hasn’t been brought up because our job is to allow no tries on that edge. That’s the focus for us,” Robinson said, with Johnston scoring 18 tries from 24 games against the Tricolours.

“So there’s not a sort of discussion about ‘don’t let somebody (score)’ because we don’t want tries. And so the passion about how we defend and how we improve from last week was pretty key for us.

“We don’t want him to score any tries. For me, hopefully the following week he’ll break that record. Alex is a really good person and a good man and a great footy player and he deserves everything he gets.

“So I’m really happy for him and what he’s done in the game and I look forward to celebrating hopefully on a television from a distance.”

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The veteran Roosters coach didn’t want to weigh into the debate surrounding whether fans should be allowed to storm the field whenever Johnston breaks the record, with Robinson more focused about the defensive cohesion on his right edge.

Siua Wong has been brought into the back row to play next to key recruit Daly Cherry-Evans after the Roosters were exposed on the edges, with Johnston part of South Sydney’s lethal left side that includes Latrell Mitchell, David Fifita and Cody Walker.

“There were probably two things that we identified which I sort of won’t go into, but there were two things that we felt like we needed to fix to improve that edge,” Robinson replied when asked what he’d identified out of last week’s Warriors loss.

“That didn’t come up after the game, but we’ve been working on them and we needed to double down this week.”

Trent Robinson has no issues with the intense scrutiny on coaches and players after one round.

Trent Robinson has no issues with the intense scrutiny on coaches and players after one round.Source: Getty Images

The focus on the Roosters and Cherry-Evans has been intense this week, while the blowtorch has also been applied to Broncos coach Michael Maguire just months after he helped end their premiership drought.

The round 1 hot takes are just par for the course these days, and the best way to silence the noise is by winning.

“Round 1’s always a grand final. We’re always excited about round 1 and how big it is, but it comes with the territory. It’s great,” he said.

“I think the more we talk about it, the more interest (we generate). You guys (media) cop a lot of flak at different times, but the more you talk about it, then it builds interest.

“So I love where our game’s at, I love the interest in our game. We’re going to have to wear opinion on how we’re playing. We’re not going to like it sometimes, but (you have to) perform. That’s the only way to answer that, and that’s us week to week.”