Tweet
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...804-11fp4.html
CHRIS BARRETT
August 5, 2010
He rejected Wayne Bennett's advances and paid the price, little wonder Roosters rookie 'BJ' Leilua has a point to prove, writes Chris Barrett.
Introducing Joseph Ikenasio Vitale Poiva Leilua Kelemete - ''BJ'' Leilua for short, thankfully. A young man who, at age 17, said no to Wayne Bennett.
The Sydney Roosters rookie utility remembers the meeting well. It was this time last year, he had just finished the SG Ball season with St George Illawarra, and Roosters recruitment chief Peter O'Sullivan had come knocking with a first-grade contract offer.
''It was a rough night, that night. We had a meeting - me, him [Bennett] and Craig Young, talking about them wanting me to sign,'' Leilua says. ''Straight up, I told them the truth that I was going to be signing with the Roosters. It was heaps hard. It was scary, man. I just told him I needed to go, I needed something new, something fresh.
''They were filthy and they gave me a hard time throughout the whole year. I was pretty sad at the time but I was happy with the new opportunity to play with the Roosters.''
Bennett, Leilua says, told him the Dragons would try and get him back after his three-year contract at Bondi expired, such was the club's admiration for the teenager.
However, as he prepares to square off against St George Illawarra for the first time in the formative year of his NRL career, the teenager has a point to prove. Leilua claims he was invited to the Dragons' NRL and NYC training last year but, after notifying the club of his intention to leave, was given the cold shoulder and spent the rest of the season playing only school footy for Endeavour Sports High and then the Australian Schoolboys.
''After that, they brushed me because I signed with the Roosters,'' says Leilua, who has played nine NRL games in his debut year. ''I played nothing - I played school footy and that's it. I was spewing, I was really angry.''
Leilua has a smile on his face when he talks of this episode. It is clear he still holds Bennett in high regard, even if he repeatedly describes the great coach as ''scary''. He is hardly the only player to have felt intimidated by the Bennett aura.
The 18-year-old speaks with more comfort about his relationship with his present coach, Brian Smith, crediting the first-year Roosters mentor with urging him to believe in himself. And open his mouth.
''He's had a good impact on me,'' Leilua says of Smith. ''I never had confidence in myself - he told me 'Man, you can do it, you've just got to use your skill and your footwork'.
''Brian is just chilled out and relaxed. He just likes to talk. Oh my gosh, loves to talk all the time.''
The BJ Leilua story could have easily been very different. He says he slipped off the tracks in his early teens, finding trouble and letting his talent for league and tennis fade without regard. His parents, Pati and Aranata, with whom he still lives at Arncliffe along with his five brothers and sisters, made him snap out of it.
''They pushed me throughout my whole career to be a first-grader,'' said Leilua, who is of Samoan descent but has been approached by New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney about the Kiwis. ''They inspired me … when I was a little kid I wasn't that good. I was just a bad kid. I was in trouble - I'd never come home all the time, I was always out. Then when I reached the age of 15 they told me, 'It's now or never'.
''I was just mucking round with my mates, just being stupid at the park, running round doing nothing. I wasn't taking my footy seriously and even my homework - I didn't go to school all the time. By 17 I went to school every day.''
On Sunday, when he plays his old club at the SCG, the family will be there ''cousins and all''. ''I just can't wait to get out there and smash them,'' said Leilua, who doesn't lack confidence these days. ''But at the same time I respect them because they're a good team; that's why they're on top.''
Nice to see one of the papers giving us positive press..
CHRIS BARRETT
August 5, 2010
He rejected Wayne Bennett's advances and paid the price, little wonder Roosters rookie 'BJ' Leilua has a point to prove, writes Chris Barrett.
Introducing Joseph Ikenasio Vitale Poiva Leilua Kelemete - ''BJ'' Leilua for short, thankfully. A young man who, at age 17, said no to Wayne Bennett.
The Sydney Roosters rookie utility remembers the meeting well. It was this time last year, he had just finished the SG Ball season with St George Illawarra, and Roosters recruitment chief Peter O'Sullivan had come knocking with a first-grade contract offer.
''It was a rough night, that night. We had a meeting - me, him [Bennett] and Craig Young, talking about them wanting me to sign,'' Leilua says. ''Straight up, I told them the truth that I was going to be signing with the Roosters. It was heaps hard. It was scary, man. I just told him I needed to go, I needed something new, something fresh.
''They were filthy and they gave me a hard time throughout the whole year. I was pretty sad at the time but I was happy with the new opportunity to play with the Roosters.''
Bennett, Leilua says, told him the Dragons would try and get him back after his three-year contract at Bondi expired, such was the club's admiration for the teenager.
However, as he prepares to square off against St George Illawarra for the first time in the formative year of his NRL career, the teenager has a point to prove. Leilua claims he was invited to the Dragons' NRL and NYC training last year but, after notifying the club of his intention to leave, was given the cold shoulder and spent the rest of the season playing only school footy for Endeavour Sports High and then the Australian Schoolboys.
''After that, they brushed me because I signed with the Roosters,'' says Leilua, who has played nine NRL games in his debut year. ''I played nothing - I played school footy and that's it. I was spewing, I was really angry.''
Leilua has a smile on his face when he talks of this episode. It is clear he still holds Bennett in high regard, even if he repeatedly describes the great coach as ''scary''. He is hardly the only player to have felt intimidated by the Bennett aura.
The 18-year-old speaks with more comfort about his relationship with his present coach, Brian Smith, crediting the first-year Roosters mentor with urging him to believe in himself. And open his mouth.
''He's had a good impact on me,'' Leilua says of Smith. ''I never had confidence in myself - he told me 'Man, you can do it, you've just got to use your skill and your footwork'.
''Brian is just chilled out and relaxed. He just likes to talk. Oh my gosh, loves to talk all the time.''
The BJ Leilua story could have easily been very different. He says he slipped off the tracks in his early teens, finding trouble and letting his talent for league and tennis fade without regard. His parents, Pati and Aranata, with whom he still lives at Arncliffe along with his five brothers and sisters, made him snap out of it.
''They pushed me throughout my whole career to be a first-grader,'' said Leilua, who is of Samoan descent but has been approached by New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney about the Kiwis. ''They inspired me … when I was a little kid I wasn't that good. I was just a bad kid. I was in trouble - I'd never come home all the time, I was always out. Then when I reached the age of 15 they told me, 'It's now or never'.
''I was just mucking round with my mates, just being stupid at the park, running round doing nothing. I wasn't taking my footy seriously and even my homework - I didn't go to school all the time. By 17 I went to school every day.''
On Sunday, when he plays his old club at the SCG, the family will be there ''cousins and all''. ''I just can't wait to get out there and smash them,'' said Leilua, who doesn't lack confidence these days. ''But at the same time I respect them because they're a good team; that's why they're on top.''
Nice to see one of the papers giving us positive press..
Comment