JOEY Leilua is eager to prove the bad mouthers wrong and help Featherstone to Super League after claiming top flight clubs were talked out of a move.
The Samoan centre has gone from earning more than £400,000-a-year in the NRL to England’s second tier after falling from grace Down Under.
He admits he does not have the greatest reputation in Australia because he is not afraid to speak his mind – a bust-up with Wests Tigers boss Michael Maguire was very public.
And Leilua, named Centre of the Year in 2016 and 2018, revealed rubbing people up the wrong way cost him a top flight move to the northern hemisphere.
He said: “I thought I was going to sign with a Super League team. I’d had talks with a couple.
“Unfortunately, though, it came back to my manager that someone – someone in Sydney - had been talking bad about me to them.
“And it was hard to prove them wrong when I wasn’t able to play. Whoever was talking me down, he didn’t want me to play at all, I couldn’t prove anything.
“So I didn’t have a club, at all. I was just going to do boxing but then Featherstone approached me and it was sold it to me.
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“I didn’t even know they were a second tier team at the time but the way they spoke was very professional and they convinced me to come over.
“And I’m very excited to get out of that place. I’m portrayed as a bad person and everyone thinks that, yet when they meet me it’s the opposite.
“I felt I was judged there because with me what you see is what you get. If I have something to say, I’ll say it.
“Here, though, I’ve been told to do that if that happens.”
Leilua, 30, is in West Yorkshire on his own while wife Tiana and their three children wait for UK visas.
He is part of a real bid for promotion, as NRL starlet Ryley Jacks, former Leeds man Adam Cuthbertson and Ben Mathiou also joined Brian McDermott’s side.
Despite being in the Championship, his deal is full-time, although if life at home proves too chaotic, he is willing to get in the ring or work in the community.
Leilua, who had a professional bout Down Under, added: “At the time there was no talk until I was contacted by Leigh, then Featherstone came along and they were more professional.
“Boxing was different, it was hard to fight without trying to tackle someone, but I felt very fit and I’ll be doing boxing training during this year.
“I could’ve retired but this is about redeeming my name.”
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