Strait and true: The trips home that keep Shiba grounded

Gehamat Shibasaki surveys the Torres Strait waters amid the remnants of historical pearl farms scattered among the islands and feels right at home.

The meeting place of the Coral Sea and Arafura Sea is not only symbolic of the link between his Indigenous islander, Japanese and Malay cultural roots, but how the simplicity of life can pave the way to greatness.

Even within the Zenadth Kes, he shares parental roots, his mum hailing from Murray Island in the eastern Torres and his dad the west, from the Argun clan of Badu Island.

While born in Townsville, Shibasaki to this day embraces his parents’ tribal origins at home, occasionally escaping to connect with family living in the region and reset to guide his journey.

“Being back home, it’s free living, no worries, go camping, fishing, just enjoy that island life. It’s a good place to go back and switch off for a bit, go back and reset,” he said.

Even one NRL start was going to be enough to make him a household name in the area but his meteoric rise in the last 12 months has only made him more determined to be a leader for young people in the 17 inhabited islands looking to pursue their sporting goals.

“Obviously opportunities are limited up there, so when I go back, my goal is to try to open up the pathways for young Indigenous kids from communities to come down here and show their talents,” the 28-year-old said.

“It boils down to three simple things, if you can work hard, sacrifice and be really disciplined in all the things you do, keep it simple and stay focused in the moment, you’ll go far.

“It might look now like you’re not progressing, but in the long run it ends up being a big progression and if you stick to those simple three things, you’ll be sweet.

“If you start being consistent for a month or two, you’ll start to see new changes and develop new habits in your life and new opportunities will present themselves.”

It’s the formula that has served him well to handle adversity over his journey, and now the big-game moments catapulting him to glory.

Shibasaki’s next challenge, other than repeating his 2025 heroics, is learning more about his Asian connections.

“I really want to keep diving into my Japanese heritage. A lot of the pearl divers back in the day went to the Torres Strait and just stayed there, so I need to dive into that a bit more and looking forward to doing that,” he said.