To his teammates, he's Geham [pronounced Gam]. Or just plain "G". Some call him Shib or Shiba even.
"I'll answer to just about anything to be honest because the full name's a bit of a mouthful,"he says with a smile.
Meet the Knights new young centre recruit Gehamat Shibasaki, who will make his Knights' debut on Saturday against the Warriors alongside childhood mate Enari Tuala.
Shibasaki's back story is a remarkable one. His surname is Japanese, his first name Malaysian and it all dates back to his great, great grandfather, a Japanese pearl diver who sailed from Japan to Torres Strait Islands back in the late 1800's.
"So on my grandfather's side, there is Japanese and Torres Strait heritage and on my grandmother's side is Malaysian and Torres Strait," he says. "So Dad [Gehamat snr] has Japanese and Malaysian heritage and my Mum is just Torres Strait Islander. My first name is traditional Malaysian. All the eldest grand kids get that name.
"One of my younger brothers - his first name is Enemarki - he got that from my mum's side. I guess you could say we are a pretty unique family name-wise. Probably not your traditional footy names that's for sure."
Not that it has hindered the rise of the talented 21-year-old, who linked with the Knights this season on a three-year-deal from the Brisbane Broncos.
Born in Townsville, Shibasaki grew up and attended Ignatius Park College there but was pinched from under the noses of the Cowboys by Brisbane following an Under 15's Schoolboys carnival in Toowoomba.
"They saw me playing schoolboy footy and I signed a scholarship with them when I was 15 and I was in their junior development system,"he said. "When I was 16, I used to fly down four times a year for a training camp with their junior academy before moving into the senior academy."
As soon as he finished school, he moved to Brisbane, leaving all his family behind in Townsville and played Under 20's for the Broncos in his first year there.
"I even missed out on Schoolies to go straight into the pre-season with the Broncos 20's after school finished, " he said.
Ironically, Shibasaki made his NRL debut for Brisbane in the centres in round 22 in 2018 against the Cowboys in Townsville in front of a host of family and friends. And the player he marked that day was Tuala, a close mate from Cairns who he had played with and against numerous times throughout their juniors.
I guess you could say we are a pretty unique family name-wise.
Gehamat Shibasaki
The 96kgs centre admits it was initially tough to get his head around leaving the Broncos to link with the Knights. But he has no doubts he made the right decision.
"It was a real tough decision because obviously I started there when I was 15 and I really didn't want to go to be honest," he said. "But opportunity-wise, for me to play NRL, I just felt here in Newcastle was the place to be with Adam O'Brien and the coaching staff here.
"I just felt like I could really take a step forward in my development here. I still had one more year at the Broncos and could have stayed and they didn't really want me to leave. But I think they saw the same thing I did with the opportunity here and didn't stand in my way."
For his part, when O'Brien arrived at the Knights and realised he needed to bolster his outside backs, he remembered the great defensive job Shibasaki did on then Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell in a game at Suncorp Stadium last season. After doing some due diligence, the Knights inquired after him and it went from there.
Shibasaki says the move could not have worked out better for him as he prepares to add to his tally of 13 NRL games.
"The coaches here have really upped my game but not just me, everyone else," he said. "The little skills that I didn't have in my game before that I have now - I'm learning heaps all the time and it just gives you a lot more confidence and I'm really excited to see what I can contribute in a game now."
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