{"id":18755,"date":"2025-09-12T21:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T21:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/18755\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T21:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T21:19:16","slug":"warriors-v-panthers-how-leka-halasima-has-stunned-the-nrl-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/18755\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors v Panthers: How Leka Halasima has stunned the NRL in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

That was all before the miracle finish at Newcastle<\/a>, seven seconds that defied league logic and confirmed a new Warriors legend. His sensational run \u2013 from 45m out \u2013 following a Knights charge down \u2013 took the Halasima hype to new levels. But he has continued to perform, while the Warriors have done their best to shield him, as he hasn\u2019t been made available for a single media session all year.<\/p>\n

\"LekaLeka Halasima has made a stunning impact for the Warriors this season. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

His only interview in New Zealand came after the round-seven win over Brisbane, when the Herald managed to catch up with him in the club gym. He said starting a match for the first time was \u201cpretty amazing\u2026 but the lungs were out there. Going to fulltime and extra time, I had to empty the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was modest about his try: \u201cI kind of ran up, saw [Adam] Reynolds in front of me, had to do footwork and got through\u201d \u2013 before joking that it was \u201ca fluke\u201d that he had scored in three consecutive games at that stage.<\/p>\n

What was it like becoming a first-grade regular? <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still learning, still got things to work on, hopefully I nail that. It\u2019s pretty challenging, everybody is fighting for spots, so you have to earn that starting spot.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"LekaLeka Halasima crosses the line against the Parramatta Eels, last month. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

With his girlfriend waiting patiently beside him, the Herald finished by asking about his parents\u2019 reaction to his impressive deeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family is proud. I always try to put a smile on their face, especially to get a try, and then they are loud as.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first thing you notice standing next to Halasima is his broad, beaming smile. The second is that he is not actually that big, compared with many of the man-mountains in the NRL. The third is that you wouldn\u2019t want to attempt to tackle him. He is an explosive ball of lean muscle, with the strength of a prop, the power of a second rower and the speed of a centre, a dazzling combination.<\/p>\n

While we haven\u2019t heard much from Halasima this season, his teammates have been effusive. Co-captains Mitch Barnett and James Fisher-Harris have both described him as a \u201cfreak\u201d, while roommate Erin Clark had a similar perspective.<\/p>\n

\"LekaLeka Halasima: “The family is proud. I always try to put a smile on their face.” Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just so talented, he\u2019s so young, but he\u2019s got a footy brain on him beyond his years,\u201d said Clark. \u201cHe\u2019s only fresh out of high school \u2013 it\u2019s exciting to see what the future holds for him. He keeps developing and he\u2019s eager to learn. He\u2019s going to turn into a great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark added that Halasima would stay grounded. \u201cHe\u2019s quite level-headed and humble,\u201d said Clark. \u201cAnyone else, their head would blow up, but he\u2019s the same Leka he was at the start or even before he debuted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayde Egan told the Herald Halasima\u2019s relaxed nature could be the making of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t take the game too seriously,\u201d said Egan. \u201dIt\u2019s pretty cool to see. He just has fun with it and backs himself, backs his ability and all the boys back him as well, and that\u2019s what shines [through] \u2013 just his natural athletic ability and his footy playing.”<\/p>\n

Ahead of Saturday\u2019s elimination final against Penrith (6.05pm), Halasima is no longer the unknown quantity. He is one of the Warriors\u2019 biggest weapons, a genuine game breaker who could fuel an unlikely victory. But the Panthers will be ruthless, aiming to surround him on attack and send plenty of traffic his way on defence. <\/p>\n

Halasima isn\u2019t the type to get overawed, though this will be his greatest test so far. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, you know, a 19-year-old coming out and performing like that,\u201d said Tuivasa-Sheck on Tuesday. \u201cI\u2019m really happy for him, really proud of the way he\u2019s going. But he\u2019s earned all that and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing him this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

As is everybody else. <\/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":"That was all before the miracle finish at Newcastle, seven seconds that defied league logic and confirmed a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[836,20251,1135,9218,1320,20250,4731,20246,6871,221,78,5844,20245,111,139,577,69,20248,16856,6926,213,20247,223,20249,3006,20252],"class_list":["post-18755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-836","tag-andrew","tag-australian","tag-before","tag-coach","tag-cornered","tag-days","tag-halasima","tag-has","tag-how","tag-in","tag-journalist","tag-leka","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nrl","tag-nz","tag-opener","tag-panthers","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-stunned","tag-the","tag-vegas","tag-warriors","tag-webster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}