Luciano Leilua

[Dragsters]

Luciano Leilua ready to take game to next level at Wests Tigers

Adrian Proszenko

NRL Photos Luciano Leilua playing for Samoa in the World 9s in October.
Luciano Leilua is angling for a starting spot. One at his new team the Wests Tigers. If that all goes to plan, maybe even for the Blues.

"I want to play consistent footy each week and try to make my way up there to representative footy," Leilua told the Herald. "Just go from there. [State of Origin] has always [been a goal], but first I have to play well for the club and everything will work out.

"Definitely the next step is to play good footy and work towards that goal."

Leilua has left one joint-venture club for another. He was released from St George Illawarra to join the Tigers, a move that allowed Trent Merrin to return to the Red V. Ostensibly, he's a replacement for Ryan Matterson, another back-rower that released and found himself back at Parramatta.

For Leilua, the move has come at a good time. The Samoan international had made 43 NRL appearances since debuting for the Dragons in 2016, but felt he needed a change to get to the next level. It's only taken a handful of training sessions with his new Tigers teammates to convince him he's made the right decision.

"I'm excited to play here," he said. "A new coach and a new bunch of boys as well, I've fitted in really well, it's been an easy transition. Definitely, it was a good time for a change, I wasn't really feeling it over there.

"I'm really excited now and looking forward to putting my head down and working hard.

"Making this change, it's a great opportunity for me to try to get that starting spot.

"It's been healthy competition at training, everyone has been fighting hard, so it's been good."

Leilua gives the Tigers something different with the ball in hand. Like his brother, Raiders centre Joseph Leilua, the 23-year-old possesses the ball skills and unpredictability that Tigers coach Michael Maguire felt his side required to threaten opposition defences.

He won't have to wait long to show his former club what they are missing. He will return to WIN Stadium for the Tigers' opening-round clash against the Dragons.

"If I get the opportunity to play against them, that would be good," he said. "I'm not really focusing on them, we're focusing on working hard on pre-season, taking it day by day.

"I don't have to prove anything to anyone, just to myself. There will be a bit of banter, of course there will be. It will be a bit emotional but it will be good.

"Obviously it was my junior club but times change and you have to move on with life.

"I was a Dragons fan but I was also rooting for (former Dragons teammate) Benji (Marshall). Whenever Benji played, I went for Benji. It's going to be good to play with him again."


https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/othe...game-to-next-level-at-wests-tigers/ar-BBXSZRp

"I wasn't really feeling it over there."

Another glowing endorsement of our illustrious man manager of a coach...

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Merrin will replace Luch in a jiffy, similar kind of exciting attack only with far far more experience cooler head and probably hits harder in D and I think will have a better offload also but good luck to LUCH!! still sad to see him go....but we have Blacker coming through and Kerr, Ford will break out as will Lawrie and Merrin will be pumped to re PROVE himself I think he just wasnt interested over there missed home by the sounds...

ps..O'Ofou will be better than Luch also, no panic

The only thing Merrin will bring to the table is better defence.
Did nothing since he left us the first time.

 

[Frank Facer]

The only thing Merrin will bring to the table is better defence.
Did nothing since he left us the first time.

When Merrin played for us, one of his strengths was his offload, so he may provide us with more offloads.

 

[muzby]

When Merrin played for us, one of his strengths was his offload, so he may provide us with more offloads.

 

[denis preston]

When Merrin played for us, one of his strengths was his offload, so he may provide us with more offloads.

Frank, Super coach banned offloads.Graham, Vaughan,Blocker & Lafai are very adapt at it but you never see them use it.

 

[denis preston]

If Graham is retired we could have kept Lachlan Timm but no one of our top performers in CC so I'm told.
Does anyone have the dirt on the problem he had with Dragons.

He didn't get on with Mary because he , like Dufty, fronted him when told about the KPI's given by the coaching team ( lateral movement !! ) were not being met , he highlighted the real KPI's such as post metres gained, tackle efficiencies , missed tackles etc were in the top 5 for the whole comp.Was told to do what he was told .No wonder the poor bastard was pissed off.

Mary's relationship with players under 25 is atrocious and he can't communicate nor get into their heads like the good coaches.In some cases like Host, he gets no feedback at all , even when dropped.

 

[boardlumps62]

He didn't get on with Mary because he , like Dufty, fronted him when told about the KPI's given by the coaching team ( lateral movement !! ) were not being met , he highlighted the real KPI's such as post metres gained, tackle efficiencies , missed tackles etc were in the top 5 for the whole comp.Was told to do what he was told .No wonder the poor bastard was pissed off.

Mary's relationship with players under 25 is atrocious and he can't communicate nor get into their heads like the good coaches.In some cases like Host, he gets no feedback at all , even when dropped.

Why didn't Millward get involved surely players talk to some of the management or is it all closed door stuff. That would be a bad environment if there's no people to confide in what about the leadership group.
Place needs an overhaul as we all say.

 

[Dragonsamy]

Why didn't Millward get involved surely players talk to some of the management or is it all closed door stuff. That would be a bad environment if there's no people to confide in what about the leadership group.
Place needs an overhaul as we all say.

Mate even if Millward got involved Mary is the final say who plays NRL who doesn't. And that was always the problem

 

[Dragsters]

He didn't get on with Mary because he , like Dufty, fronted him when told about the KPI's given by the coaching team ( lateral movement !! ) were not being met , he highlighted the real KPI's such as post metres gained, tackle efficiencies , missed tackles etc were in the top 5 for the whole comp.Was told to do what he was told .No wonder the poor bastard was pissed off.

Mary's relationship with players under 25 is atrocious and he can't communicate nor get into their heads like the good coaches.In some cases like Host, he gets no feedback at all , even when dropped.

Timm got no shot yet Kerr with arguably the poorest lateral movement in the club got several chances.

Coach just playing favourites as usual imo...

 

[denis preston]

Timm got no shot yet Kerr with arguably the poorest lateral movement in the club got several chances.

Coach just playing favourites as usual imo...

Great mystery of life .Why , why, why does he have it over the club ( with his abysmal record ) or the club has him in a convenient position to suit their needs ? 60 bloody minutes should run a story on this. No wonder we are all frustrated.

 

[possm]

Mate even if Millward got involved Mary is the final say who plays NRL who doesn't. And that was always the problem

So structurally within SGI management, what has changed since the public announcement that we have moved to an NFL style recruitment system. At the time, it was made clear that Mary would be relieved of being engaged in the recruitment process and instead Millward would report directly to the CEO on recruitment, pathways and retention, who was Doust at the time.

If what you say is correct, why does Millward have his own department outside of the coaching staff at SGI?

 

[hermidale1]

He didn't get on with Mary because he , like Dufty, fronted him when told about the KPI's given by the coaching team ( lateral movement !! ) were not being met , he highlighted the real KPI's such as post metres gained, tackle efficiencies , missed tackles etc were in the top 5 for the whole comp.Was told to do what he was told .No wonder the poor bastard was pissed off.

Mary's relationship with players under 25 is atrocious and he can't communicate nor get into their heads like the good coaches.In some cases like Host, he gets no feedback at all , even when dropped.

The obvious problem is Mary doesn’t like feedback that disagrees with his opinions.
That is what happens when you have a person in charge who is a bully , pig headed and a control freak. This is why so many of the younger brigade want out.

 

[SAP58]

He didn't get on with Mary because he , like Dufty, fronted him when told about the KPI's given by the coaching team ( lateral movement !! ) were not being met , he highlighted the real KPI's such as post metres gained, tackle efficiencies , missed tackles etc were in the top 5 for the whole comp.Was told to do what he was told .No wonder the poor bastard was pissed off.

Mary's relationship with players under 25 is atrocious and he can't communicate nor get into their heads like the good coaches.In some cases like Host, he gets no feedback at all , even when dropped.

You are 100% correct in particular about Host !

 

[BLM01]

You are 100% correct in particular about Host !

Yes maybe correct.
I know as fact Mary in the past? has had poor communication with some players in respect to knowing where they stand, Kurt Mann was one who I spoke to when he was playing reggies under JD said as much without directly bagging Mary...

But..... after that game against Melb..without our origin stars? where Host had a brain snap at a crucial stage and kicked for himself in the 1st half to squander an opportunity to settle and set up to go 2 tries or 12 points ahead of the opposition which come back to bite us....then the late 2nd half penalty for running a chaser off the ball...which really cost us that game as smith kicked a penalty goad to level? or go 2 ahead?.
You did not have to be a rocket scientist to know he was going to get the axe for those stupid errors at crucial times. I called it from my lounge room chair.
So if he did not understand that well he has a lot more than I thought to learn at that level. As a coach I would of done the same but would of least reminded him about it post game....I am sure Mary did.

 

[avocado]

Yes maybe correct.
I know as fact Mary in the past? has had poor communication with some players in respect to knowing where they stand, Kurt Mann was one who I spoke to when he was playing reggies under JD said as much without directly bagging Mary...

But..... after that game against Melb..without our origin stars? where Host had a brain snap at a crucial stage and kicked for himself in the 1st half to squander an opportunity to settle and set up to go 2 tries or 12 points ahead of the opposition which come back to bite us....then the late 2nd half penalty for running a chaser off the ball...which really cost us that game as smith kicked a penalty goad to level? or go 2 ahead?.
You did not have to be a rocket scientist to know he was going to get the axe for those stupid errors at crucial times. I called it from my lounge room chair.
So if he did not understand that well he has a lot more than I thought to learn at that level. As a coach I would of done the same but would of least reminded him about it post game....I am sure Mary did.

Host makes three dumb errors in a game and gets dropped. Ok.
Mann makes three dumb errors in a game and gets dropped. Ok
Aitken makes three dumb errors EVERY game but ...

 

[getsmarty]

Yes maybe correct.
I know as fact Mary in the past? has had poor communication with some players in respect to knowing where they stand, Kurt Mann was one who I spoke to when he was playing reggies under JD said as much without directly bagging Mary...

But..... after that game against Melb..without our origin stars? where Host had a brain snap at a crucial stage and kicked for himself in the 1st half to squander an opportunity to settle and set up to go 2 tries or 12 points ahead of the opposition which come back to bite us....then the late 2nd half penalty for running a chaser off the ball...which really cost us that game as smith kicked a penalty goad to level? or go 2 ahead?.
You did not have to be a rocket scientist to know he was going to get the axe for those stupid errors at crucial times. I called it from my lounge room chair.
So if he did not understand that well he has a lot more than I thought to learn at that level. As a coach I would of done the same but would of least reminded him about it post game....I am sure Mary did.

Host makes three dumb errors in a game and gets dropped. Ok.
Mann makes three dumb errors in a game and gets dropped. Ok
Aitken makes three dumb errors EVERY game but ...

Beat me to the punch....Exactly correct...someone is playing Favourites.

 

[BLM01]

So structurally within SGI management, what has changed since the public announcement that we have moved to an NFL style recruitment system. At the time, it was made clear that Mary would be relieved of being engaged in the recruitment process and instead Millward would report directly to the CEO on recruitment, pathways and retention, who was Doust at the time.

If what you say is correct, why does Millward have his own department outside of the coaching staff at SGI?

Possm for Petes sake...stopping banging on about the same thing where you do not know the set up at all..you just interpret the way you want the lip service or media interview language stuff that they do to try and show they are trying to improve and change things around. I know part of it is BS carefully worded crap to settle the masses.
Here are the facts for your benefit for the last time

1. Millward has a department outside of coaching because it is nothing to do with coaching funnily enough...however
2. Mary never was stopped of being involved with recruitment just he wanted out of getting involved with contractural and player negotiations, paperwork stuff and also making decisions on the following / nurturing of the young talent which was weighing his time down with limited resources around him. (key point here). All the super better run clubs (most) had more resources at their disposal.
Dragons were and are still behind in this department. They have not grown with the game yet but ding dong...they realised it finally and now......People like Bellamy and Robbo have a plethora of staff to allow them to have their fingers in every part of the football departments...Dragons are yet to get to their level and may not have (or did not have) the funds to do same?.
3. Every player that potentially is interested to go to 1st grade or Top 30 or be training with the main squad from outside has to primarily talk to, meet Mary and he then tells them what he sees and what he wants and what he believes they will bring to the club.
4. Even with Mullholland & Warwick 2013-2015 our coaches have had heavy involvement as these 2 had to be on the road a lot more scouting for talent with our other scouts and bringing juniors through properly was not happening enough then. (due to lack of staff...poor Ben Haran back in those days)
5. The Dragons were seeing the young talent was not being nurtured enough into transitioning from lower to higher grades and we were losing more to other clubs or just lost to the NRL level so all they did was create a structure where Basil (nee Millward) still goes out and around and looks at players on the advice of Mary and his staff but spends more time doing the other stuff and liasing with lower grades people to promote players to higher grades, (pathways) ensuring we have more people talent spotting and now allows Mary more time to coach which he cant do anyway. (but we have more staff trying to come up to speed with others and get most things right)..Mary is another story, problem and topic discussed adnauseum elsewhere
6. Millward and Mary + coaching staff discuss who they want to target and why. Millward takes over from there seeking with his larger now staffed team under his control until interest from a player and his manager about a potential contract. Mary signs off on a player after interviewing and Millward gets the contract paperwork done and hopefully over the line.
7. They are in the thick of it together (blame all if you like but not one or the other) but you are seeing the results now of their restructure at least improving the young talent rising through the gateways putting their hands up for selection and knocking on the door waiting for Mary and his cronies to open it. (that is now the only problem)
8. Of course the CEO has to endorse everything and everyone reports to him in the football department..even Mary so no newsflash there

How do I know? My club deals with Dragons talent scouts, players every year and including some managers as players go into and out their system. Open your eyes into our lower grades and young talent and you will see for yourself.

Research the end of season press conferences of 2015 & 2016 which will also endorse their structure I speak of..

 

[BLM01]

Host makes three dumb errors in a game and gets dropped. Ok.
Mann makes three dumb errors in a game and gets dropped. Ok
Aitken makes three dumb errors EVERY game but ...

but Aitken knows where he stands. Mary loves JDB (yeh good player)..Aitken is one of his besties and a mate of Mary's.

 

[denis preston]

Yes maybe correct.
I know as fact Mary in the past? has had poor communication with some players in respect to knowing where they stand, Kurt Mann was one who I spoke to when he was playing reggies under JD said as much without directly bagging Mary...

But..... after that game against Melb..without our origin stars? where Host had a brain snap at a crucial stage and kicked for himself in the 1st half to squander an opportunity to settle and set up to go 2 tries or 12 points ahead of the opposition which come back to bite us....then the late 2nd half penalty for running a chaser off the ball...which really cost us that game as smith kicked a penalty goad to level? or go 2 ahead?.
You did not have to be a rocket scientist to know he was going to get the axe for those stupid errors at crucial times. I called it from my lounge room chair.
So if he did not understand that well he has a lot more than I thought to learn at that level. As a coach I would of done the same but would of least reminded him about it post game....I am sure Mary did.

One game BLM ? Obviously not a fan of Host ( although i do admit this season is make or break for him )

 

[BLM01]

One game BLM ? Obviously not a fan of Host ( although i do admit this season is make or break for him )

No... I was a fan coming through and in part in 2018 but I said back then he is not robust enough for the role he is playing. What i saw of 2019 confirmed it but he does run good lines at times but his defence is OK but not consistent or robust enough for me.
I pointed out that game to understand why he was dropped to reggies as people were saying he had no idea..poor Hosty.. it was going to be a no brainer decision for even dumbfounded Mary after that game...but good players bounce back and put their hand up for selection again...Hosty did OK at CC level but he was put back in line behind Fordy and Pat Kaufusi in the end...amd at full strength especially if JDB comes back...may not get back in.