Thoughts on Kane Linnett

[Cockadoodledoo]

You're a neville nobody here who sits on the fence most times and has nothing decent to contribute.

You have completely no idea so I would consider it a good thing. I can't remember you ever posting anything remotely worthwhile.. Even when you were in 'character' you weren't even slightly amusing..

[Guest]

You have completely no idea so I would consider it a good thing. I can't remember you ever posting anything remotely worthwhile.. Even when you were in 'character' you weren't even slightly amusing..

Well said.

[Guest]

Bennett certainly did try hard to keep him,and gave him a hard time for the remainder of his last dragoons season,as reported here...

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...-cold-shoulder

Damn it, article didn't work..

[Cockadoodledoo]

Damn it, article didn't work..

Just think Justin Hodges.. When BJ signed with us, Bennett wouldn't let BJ play SG Ball..

[Guest]

Damn it, article didn't work..

Here it is...

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.
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BJ Leilua.

Ready for action ... Roosters utility Joseph "BJ" Leilua can't wait to square off against former junior club St George Illawarra this weekend for the first time.. Photo: Edwina Pickles

''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.''

[Guest]

Nice, cheers spanner.

Also, how does his name abbreviate into BJ. lol.

[Guest]

Nice, cheers spanner.

Also, how does his name abbreviate into BJ. lol.

No idea LOL,possibly Big Joey???

[Guest]

Nice, cheers spanner.

Also, how does his name abbreviate into BJ. lol.

Haha, good question mate. His girlfriend goes to my school, so i mate have to ask her.

Also, who do you think BJ would play better with? linnett or skd? Given BJ played on the wing.

[TheLoneRooster]

Nice, cheers spanner.

Also, how does his name abbreviate into BJ. lol.

BJ is either his father's or grandfather's initials, I can't remember exactly and he is called BJ to differentiate from others in his family with the same name. Happy to be corrected on this if I'm wrong.

[Guest]

BJ is either his father's or grandfather's initials, I can't remember exactly and he is called BJ to differentiate from others in his family with the same name. Happy to be corrected on this if I'm wrong.

Others have the same name?! wow.

[theGman]

BJ is either his father's or grandfather's initials, I can't remember exactly and he is called BJ to differentiate from others in his family with the same name. Happy to be corrected on this if I'm wrong.

BJ and former Roosters centre Iosia Soliola are first cousins. That would have helped us secure him.

[Guest]

BJ and former Roosters centre Iosia Soliola are first cousins. That would have helped us secure him.

For sure, but like other people have said on this thread, he said no to Bennet, i was determined to be a Rooster.

[Roosterfarian]

You have completely no idea so I would consider it a good thing. I can't remember you ever posting anything remotely worthwhile.. Even when you were in 'character' you weren't even slightly amusing..

I have been here much longer than you think and contributed a hell of a lot more than you. In fact..I can't remember you posting anything worth reading!

I don't go around blasting others on this site for their views on a player. Opinions are like arseholes...everyone has one!

If someone wants to have a go at a player...then so be it!! They have free-reign as far as I'm concerned unless the player is completely in form at the time. Linnett has been around for 5 minutes in first grade and even someone with a little sense would question his longevity. Remember..even the almighty Fittler has copped plenty of sprays on these forums - probably most of them have been well-deserved.

So quit the holier-than-thou attitude especially when YOU don't have anything to back it up.

Everyone has a right to voice their opinion and people like you have no credence on here.

[Roosterfarian]

Well said.

I keep reminding myself that there is only another week or so before school holidays end. Phew.

[Guest]

I keep reminding myself that there is only another week or so before school holidays end. Phew.

Mate, i was just about to agree with you with the comment 1 before this one. You just needa take a chill pill and relax, you write like a whole paragraph about how people are aloud to voice their opinions and then when i say two measley words you jump all over me telling me you cannt wait before i go back to school. Your a hypocrit, you just contradicted yourself in the very next post.

Oh, and by the way, i have a school laptop