Gehamat Shibasaki (born 2 September 1998) is an Australian-Japanese professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a or er for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. He previously played for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

and

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

and

Green Rockets Tokatsu NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu (formerly NEC Green Rockets) is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. The team's captain iRyota Asano The previous captain was Takuro Miuchi, who was also the captain of the Japan national rugby union ...

in the

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

Background

Shibasaki was born in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, and is of

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

descent. He played his junior rugby league for

Townsville Brothers The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

Shibasaki played for the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

team in 2016-2017. On 13 July 2016, Shibasaki played for the

under 20's team against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, playing at centre in the 36-22 loss at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

. In February 2017, Shibasaki was selected in Brisbane's

2017 NRL Auckland Nines The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it w ...

squad. On 31 May 2017, Shibasaki was selected to play at centre again for Queensland in the Under 20's State of Origin clash in the 30-16 loss at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

2018

In 2018, Shibasaki moved from the Under 20's team to the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

, playing for the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

. In Round 11 against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

, Shibasaki was named to make his NRL debut but was only to be replaced later in the week by

Kotoni Staggs Kotoni Staggs (born 29 October 1998) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has represented Indigenous All Stars, Tonga and New South Wales. He has playe ...

. On 11 July 2018, Shibasaki was selected for the third year in a row for Queensland Under 20's at centre as they won their first title in a 30-12 victory at

. In Round 22 of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

, Shibasaki made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut for the

against the

in his home town in

, playing at centre for the axed

Jordan Kahu Jordan Kahu (born 28 January 1991) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and er for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Kahu has played for the Brisbane Broncos and the Nort ...

in Brisbane's heartbreaking 34-30 loss at

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through Naming rights, sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground o ...

. A day after making his debut, Shibasaki was rewarded with a contract extension with the

to the end of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

2019

Shibasaki made 12 appearances for Brisbane in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Shibasaki played in the club's elimination final against Parramatta which Brisbane lost 58-0 at the new

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium ...

. The defeat was the worst in Brisbane's history and also the biggest finals defeat in history. In December, he gained a release from Brisbane to join the

effective immediately on a three-year contract.

2020

Shibasaki played 11 games for Newcastle in the

. Shibasaki did not play in Newcastle's finals campaign where they were eliminated in the opening week against South Sydney.

2021

Shibasaki played 3 games for the Knights in 2021 before being released at the end of the season.

2022

On 17 July, Shibasaki signed with the

on a train and trial contract for the remainder of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

. On 15 November, he signed a one-year contract with the club for 2023.https://www.cowboys.com.au/news/2022/11/15/shibasaki-signs-for-2023/

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shibasaki, Gehamat 1998 births Living people Australian people of Japanese descent Australian people of Malaysian descent Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Brisbane Broncos players Green Rockets Tokatsu players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Newcastle Knights players North Queensland Cowboys players Norths Devils players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Townsville Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Torres Strait Islanders