Nathanael "Simi" Sasagi (born 24 April 2001) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League.
He previously played for the Newcastle Knights as a .
Background
Sasagi was born in
Auckland,
New Zealand. He is of
Samoans descent.
He played his junior rugby league for the Ellerslie Eagles, before being signed by the Newcastle Knights.
Playing career
Early years
Sasagi started his career at the Knights playing with their S. G. Ball Cup team in 2018,
before re-signing with the club on a contract until the end of 2020, with an option for a further two seasons after that.
In 2019 and 2020, he trained with the first-grade squad as a development player,
but only played two games for the Knights' Jersey Flegg Cup side in that time after being hampered by injury.
He was named in the
Junior Kiwis squad in September 2019.
2021
In 2021, Sasagi was promoted to the top 30 squad and spent his time playing with the
NSW Cup side.
He made his NRL debut for Newcastle against North Queensland in round 11 of the 2021 NRL season,
playing in the s as Newcastle were defeated 20–36.
2022
Sasagi played 14 games for Newcastle in the 2022 NRL season which saw the club missing the finals finishing 14th on the table.
2023
In August, Sasagi signed a two-year contract with the
Canberra Raiders starting in 2024, after gaining a release from the remainder of his Newcastle contract.
2024
Sasagi played ten matches for Canberra in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 9th on the table.
2025
On 13 March, Sasagi signed a one year extension with Canberra.
On 20 August, Canberra announced that Sasagi had penned another extension with the club until the end of 2028.
Sasagi played 22 matches for Canberra in the 2025 NRL season as the club claimed the Minor Premiership. He played in both finals matches as Canberra went out in straight sets losing to both Brisbane and Cronulla.
He scored a try for in the 2025 Pacific Championships 24-18 defeat to in Auckland.
Statistics
| +
!Year
!Team
!Games
!Tries
!Pts |
| 2021 | Newcastle Knights | 3 | | |
| 2022 | 14 | | |
| 2024 | Canberra Raiders | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| 2025 | 22 | 7 | 28 |
| 2026 | | | |
| | Totals | 48 | 9 | 36 |
External links
