NRL 2024: Sydney Roosters firebrand Spencer Leniu ‘ready for war’ against former side Penrith Panthers

Spencer Leniu won three premierships at Penrith but that hasn’t stopped the Roosters firebrand declaring war on his old allies. WATCH Leniu open up about facing his former club for the first time.

Sydney Roosters enforcer Spencer Leniu has a message for his “brothers” at Penrith - he is ready to go to war on Friday night.

Leniu won three premiership along side the former teammates at the Panthers that he considers family, like Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota.

But when Leniu runs out at Bluebet Stadium for the first time - after missing Round 4 against his former club due to suspension - all bets are off.

“Going into enemy territory, with our backs against the wall, that excites me. I can’t wait for it. I love those boys but I’m just going to go to war,” Leniu said on Wednesday,

Leniu knows there will be no love lost towards him either.

The 24-year-old is expecting Luai to be at his sledging best in an attempt to throw him off his game.

Spencer Leniu is ready to go to war against his former side. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“He sledges all the boys, so I know what is coming my way. I have a lot love for him and his little family but we’ll go to war on Friday and kiss and make-up after,” Leniu said.

“They will do whatever it takes, that has been their mindset every single finals series.

“If getting under my skin is part of it, it is what it is.”

Leniu doesn’t shy away from how quickly the red mist can descend over him in the heat of the battle.

The NSW Blues powerhouse famously locked horns with Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves when the two met last season.

Leniu is ready to bring that same intensity to his old stomping ground at Penrith, but pledged this time, not to lose his cool with a spot in the preliminary final on the line.

“It’s easy for to get into the red, so I need to chill a little bit for the game,” Leniu said.

“I know what it takes to win games, I don’t want to let the boys down so I will do everything in my power to keep my cool. I don’t think I’ll cross a boundary against those boys.”

Spencer Leniu won three premierships with Penrith. Picture: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

Leniu earned the moniker ‘fireball’ in 2022, when his Penrith teammates assigned it to him as his pilot name as part of the side’s Top Gun theme during the finals series.

Luai is not only expecting Leniu, who is starting at prop for the suspended Waerea-Hargreaves, to live up to that reputation on Friday night but to use the showdown as a chance to announce himself as the leader of the Roosters pack.

“Fireball fits him perfectly. We miss him but he went to the Roosters for a chance to be the big dog there and he’ll be firing for that battle on Friday night, we know it,” Luai said.

“I know he’s wanted that role and he’s been doing a great job for the Roosters.

“It emphasis the start we need to have, we need to match that fire and drive he plays with. He never plays without that.”

‘Fireball’ Spencer Leniu has had a strong 2024 campaign which saw him called up to the NSW Blues squad. Picture Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Leniu spent five years as an understudy to Moses Leota and Fisher-Harris, where he mostly played from the bench.

Leota is preparing to have a target on his back and for Leniu to play like a man with a point to prove.

“It’s going to fiery, there’s a reason we call him the fireball,” Leota said.

“We know he is going to want to wreck havoc so we have to be on. The older he gets, the more aggression he’s adding to his game. He’s made for that starting role.”

Penrith’s Lindsay Smith was the biggest beneficiary of Leniu’s decision to defect to the Roosters, stepping up to replace him on Penrith’s bench in 2024.

While Leniu has a reputation as a firebrand, Smith, by his own admission, has struggled to add mongrel to his game.

But that won’t stop Smith from going after Leniu, like he did during his junior league days.

Smith and Leniu came through Penrith’s junior pathways at the same time, but were local junior enemies for years.

Now that battle will play out on the biggest on Friday night, and for Smith, the matter of pride is also on the line.

“I played for St Marys and he played for Minchinbury, we are the same age so we played against each other a lot. Even back then he was fiery and explosive, nothing has changed. I think we only won one out of the five grand finals we played, and Spencer had a lot to do with that.

“I have a lot of respect for him but I can’t wait to take him on.”

Smith believes a Penrith victory will begin by getting the upper hand on the Roosters’ engine room as a whole, not just over Leniu.

“Of course, Spencer is a force to be reckoned with but they have a massive and experienced pack with guys like Lindsay Collins there, even Terrell May has taken his game to a whole new level this year. Guys like Angus Crichton have been causing damage,” Smith said.

“That’s where the game will start and will be won.”

Leniu is still in regular contact with his former Penrith teammates but he will be putting any niceties on hold until after the match.

“We usually wish each other good luck every week for the game but I have to put those messages aside and go to war on Friday,” Leniu said.