Leka Halasima. Say the name. Now say it again, in a whisper. Leka Halasima.
Across New Zealand, children were yanked from sleep as quiet streets roared with the sound of one name: Leka Halasima!
What a ride for Warriors – and Knights – fans.
Decimated by gastro leading into the game, Newcastle could barely field a team for the captain’s run. They should have been easy meat for a top four team side. They proved anything but.
Despite an early Adam Pompey try from a neat Tanah Boyd grubber, the Warriors couldn’t convert the sustained pressure into more points.
The bunker didn’t help, ruling a dubious double movement to scrub a Wade Egan try at the 18-minutemark. It proved expensive and frustrating for the Warriors; a 12-point swing as Fletcher Hunt scored minutes later for the Knights.
I was livid. My phone chirped with angry messages. I assured myself the Knights would tire late in the match as illness and effort took toll.
If the Egan no-try was frustrating, then Greg Marzew’s pass off the ground for Dane Gagai to score was salt in the wound. Salt soaked in alcohol and spite. Even Gagai couldn’t suppress an incredulous smile. My frustration grew. My phone raged.
The Warriors errors punctuated the half. Dallin Watene-Zalezniak’s defence looked wobblier than his hands under the high ball.
Then Marzew scored in the corner on the 30-minute mark. I said nothing. My phone stayed silent. Halftime, the Knights led 12-6, their lack of conversions kept it close.
The Knights are tough at home, with a strong defensive record this season, but surely, we should be beating the 14th placed side, wrecked by illness? The Knights didn’t get the memo.

Leka Halasima celebrates. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
The second half started as the first ended, with errors, before Demitric Vaimauga, one of the Warriors talented youngsters, powered over. Boyd converted, 12-all.
The phone buzzed. UP THE WAHS! We are on.
I was not prepared for what followed. The teams traded penalties to go to 14 all. It was tense. I realised I was pacing the room. I had lost my phone.
Gagai encapsulated the Knights effort, hobbling badly as he threw himself into everything. Absolute soldier.
The diminutive Taine Tuapiki made a desperate try-saving tackle, looking like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad brought his son to work. Halasima then stopped Fletcher Hunt cold, the line beckoning after Hunt ignored an unmarked man outside him.
I exhaled loudly, unaware I had been holding my breath.
The Warriors worked into a good position. Boyd let fly the drop-goal attempt early in the tackle count. Wide! It was wide! The room was thick with tension.
The Knights needed no further invitation, driving into Warriors’ territory. Jack Cogger good enough to slot his attempt on the angle. 15-14, with five to play.
AAAARRGGH. Boyd sends the restart dead on the full. No, no, no, no, no.
The Knights surged within two metres of the line but couldn’t get over. The Warriors worked it back up field before Boyd got a 43m shot at a two-point field goal, otherwise known as redemption.
The shot was low and unconvincing. The loss of Luke ‘clutch-moment’ Metcalf cut deep. 78 minutes gone, just like my hopes and dreams. But wait … the Wahs are challenging the call!
The seconds tick like cannon shots … I can hear my own heartbeat. The bunker rules Jackon Hastings offside, and he was too, that wonderful bunker! Never doubted them.
Boyd steps up to steal an unlikely victory with a shot from nearly in front. Messages of relief ping my phone. The ball drifts left of the posts. He missed; he missed!
Time is all but gone. The Knights have a drop out from their 20. We sit drained, hoping for a miracle as Egan is tackled 47m out. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck powers forward, the last of his 265m. Fisher-Harris follows. It’s now or never.
Boyd takes another two-point field goal attempt. We leap up, only for it to be charged down … the ball flies to Leka -walk-on-water-Halasima and he is off.
Time slows again as this 19-year-old man-child runs like a rhino in ballet shoes, outpacing Bradman Best, swerving past Gagai and crashing through two tacklers to slide over for an unbelievable winner.
We roared. Disbelief. What had we just seen? The phone went nuts. The commentators went nuts. The Knights were crushed, having fought so hard to be cruelly denied by a piece of brilliance. And brilliant it was, Halasima etching his name into NZ rugby league folklore.
We are spoilt with remarkable talent in the NRL, particularly the young breed of athletic second-rowers. Leka Halasima has shown he is one to watch.
Leka Halasima. Say the name. Now say it again, in a whisper. Leka Halasima.