Bulldogs circling Leilua as Raiders squeeze star centre out

Jackson_1994

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Bulldogs circling Leilua as Raiders squeeze star centre out

Joseph Leilua could make a shock switch to Canterbury after being told he is free to leave Canberra despite having another year on his contract.

Leilua and three-quarter partner Jordan Rapana have been an integral part of the Green Machine in recent seasons, but their "Leipana" partnership is set to end.

Rapana will return to rugby with Japanese franchise Panasonic Wild Knights, but he is open to it being a short stint that will allow him to return to the NRL.

Leilua is also set to depart the nation's capital as the club attempts to free up salary space in a bid to retain the nucleus of the side that made the grand final. The Bulldogs are prepared to table a deal of about $500,000 a season for up to three years in order to lure him to Belmore.

Leilua conceded he may have played his last game for the Raiders.

"For me it's about looking after my family, doing what's best for them," Leilua said. "If they want us to leave, I'll have to settle something there. I will probably miss the boys and the club the most, the fans, if I do leave. You have to understand it's a business, how it works. You can't keep the best team always together, that's why Melbourne always let go of their players when they are performing at the club. That's the way it goes."

The 27-year-old, part of the Samoan squad for the World Nines, feels he has plenty of good football left in him.

"My number one goal is to win a comp with a good team, that's all I want to do," he said. "If they need people to go, that's part of the work, we have to go. I can't complain, I just have to make the best decision for me and my family.

"It's hard but that's how it goes."

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart and Canterbury counterpart Dean Pay are close friends, having played and coached together. They are keen to come up with an outcome that is beneficial to all parties.

However, Leilua and Rapana are unlikely to be the last Raiders to depart in the off season. Halfback Aidan Sezer is expected to shift to the Super League, to be replaced by an Englishman keen to test himself in the NRL.

Incoming half George Williams will become the fifth Englishman on the Raiders' books when he presents for pre-season training. The Wigan playmaker grew up idolising Trent Barrett and will get a chance to make his own mark in the NRL.

"Trent Barrett was a massive one because he came to Wigan when I was a young lad," Williams said. "He was playing stand-off, where I was playing at that age. He was my idol at the time and I managed to meet him a couple of years later, it was pretty cool."

England coach Wayne Bennett believes Williams will be a success in the NRL.

"He's a very gifted player, he's got all of the skills," Bennett said. "He's a good decision-maker, good with the ball in his hands. He's a good pick up for the Raiders."
 

bradtalo

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If his signing will cost us anyone like Mitchell, Manu, Radradra or Fifita then we're f..king crazy and Pay is letting his friendship with Stuart spoil our team. Would rather pay an extra 200K for Manu or even an extra 400K for Mitchell and they're both young and fit. Radradra is probably out of our price now. If we could get Mitchell OR Manu AND David Fifita AND Leilua then that would be okay.
 

Scorpio

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He is still rocks and diamonds in my opinion...
Can create something out of nothing, but can also have brain explosions and be very lazy in defence...
I think $500k a season is too much
 

bradtalo

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Latrell Mitchell
DWZ
Will Hopoate
Joey Leilua
Reimis Smith
 

bradyk

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If we sign Leilua, unless we play Latrell/Manu Fullback, we'll not be signing one of them. I'd be a lot more comfortable if it was for 400k. I'd still rather Latrell/Manu playing Centre tho.
 

youoboys

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Waste of cap money. We need a willie mason type player with arrogance. Dogs vs the world fuck yeah
 

bradyk

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500k?

Wow.
If we're the only club going in for him I don't really understand it. If we had to compete with someone else's 400k offer then I'd understand. I guess we never really know and Leilua's manager could just say he has other offers. I don't know the Dragons situation (regarding how much they have to spend) but both of their Centres unperformed last season and Leilua's brother is there too.
 

Howard Moon

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If we're the only club going in for him I don't really understand it. If we had to compete with someone else's 400k offer then I'd understand. I guess we never really know and Leilua's manager could just say he has other offers. I don't know the Dragons situation (regarding how much they have to spend) but both of their Centres unperformed last season and Leilua's brother is there too.

Haven't heard a single word about any other club showing interest, not even the Titans or Tigers.... This just seems like it will be a signing for the sake of a signing... better to just hold onto the cash and wait
 

Dognacious

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If his signing will cost us anyone like Mitchell, Manu, Radradra or Fifita then we're f..king crazy and Pay is letting his friendship with Stuart spoil our team. Would rather pay an extra 200K for Manu or even an extra 400K for Mitchell and they're both young and fit. Radradra is probably out of our price now. If we could get Mitchell OR Manu AND David Fifita AND Leilua then that would be okay.
Yeh IF it did. In reality Mitchell aint going anywhere, Manu same, Radradra is very unlikely, and Brisbane will do everything to keep Haas and Fifita. They will be looking to build future teams around those young guns from what i read.

It could be getting him causes us to miss nobody, coz nobody worth getting is available. And TBH who we need to replace became a smaller group later in the year, with our improved form. With NO more signings i think we can get top 8 if we hold our latest form. And this year we didnt lose 3 rep players in the offseason, so it cant be compared to last season when we did (Klemmer, Morrises x 2). Last seasons ok finish wasnt against as many top 8 and 4 sides, or as many wins either

About the possibility of signing Leilua. Hes decent, definitely wouldnt hurt our chances, but i wont cry if we don't get him. Id rather Wighton if we were getting raiders.
 

BMOC

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Will be a great addition for us next year if this happens. I rate him and think he will fit in quite well at the dogs.
 

finchie

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500k for bj “I give away 5 pens a game” Leilua is absurd

should’ve went after esarn masters or sione katoa from the sharks for mine.
 

CHUCKYBOY

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He is still rocks and diamonds in my opinion...
Can create something out of nothing, but can also have brain explosions and be very lazy in defence...
I think $500k a season is too much

I think this would be the worst signing considering we are a rebuilding phase. The guy is not all that and has a bad attitude.
 

_G-Dog_

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Anyone that watches NRL would know Leilua is hot & cold and very inconsistent & prone to regular brain explosion plays..

In some ways He cost the Raiders the GF with 2 big errors.. if he passed to Rapana 1 second earlier than he did Rapana scores and he was lazy at marker that the Rorter$ exploited to make the break & score the winning try..

Sure he can do some good things but that above is typical Leilua play..
 

bowleggedwog

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Value should go down for his grand final effort.. I would prefer we persist with with our youth policy. Harper went well in his nrl start. We have 2 more good centre prospects. Harper n hoppa, Smith is also a fill in chance.
 
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