Rookie Rabbitoh fulfils NRL dream after near death moment

Rookie Rabbitohs playmaker Dion Teaupa will make his NRL debut after once fearing he would never play again following a car accident that left him in a coma with a fractured skull.

Teaupa, who played for Tonga in last year's historic Test series against England, has been called up to make his NRL debut in Saturday's clash with the Dragons following injuries to Dean Hawkins (quad) and Lachlan Ilias (leg).

However, the 22-year-old's dream of playing in the NRL was put on hold after he was hit by a car while walking home from post-match celebrations with his junior club, St Johns Eagles, in Belfield.

“When I was in Year 7, I got into a car crash and I was in a coma," Teaupa told Rabbitohs.com.au. "When I was awake, I couldn't remember anything that day except for playing footy.

“I played in the Bulldogs comp for St Johns and we versed St Christophers. It was actually a tight game, we won 16-12 that day, and after the game we had a dinner in our local pub, just near home in Belfield.

“I was going to the park, and a car came flying down, and I didn't really look. I got hit by the car and knocked out there.

“I was rushed to the hospital and had a fracture on the left side of my skull.”

Teaupa was advised by doctors not to play rugby league or any contact sport while he recovered, but the accident only enhanced his passion for the game.

“I always talk about how I can only remember playing footy that day. Nothing else. Nothing before that, nothing after it," he said.

“I think I wasn't meant to play footy for about a year and a bit," he said. "When I came back home, they said I wasn't supposed to be moving around.

"I was supposed to just stay at home and stay in bed and just walk around here and there but when I got back, I was playing touch in the backyard with my brothers."

After joining the Rabbitohs as a15-year-old, Teaupa has risen through the ranks and he played the opening 20 minutes of the 2023 Charity Shield, scoring two tries and setting up another.

The rising star was rewarded for his starring role in the club's first NSWRL premiership win in 40 years with selection in Kristian Woolf's Tongan squad for the end-of-season tour to England and played two Tests from the bench.

Teaupu is one of four new faces in the Rabbitohs team to play St George Illawarra, along with Latrell Mitchell, who returns from a three-match suspension, winger Gehamat Shibasaki and fellow debutant Matt French.

Mitchell replaces Jye Gray (ankle) at fullback, while Shibasaki has been called up from Townsville Blackhawks after previous NRL stints with the Broncos, Knights and Cowboys.

French, a Central Coast produce who joined Souths last year from the North Sydney Bears, was named on the interchange bench as a replacement for injured captain Cameron Murray (hip).