Joey and Luciano Leilua to play together for the first time
The last time Joey Leilua took on his little brother Luciano was in the backyard. On Friday, the pair will take to the field together for the first time for Samoa in the World Cup 9s.
Raiders
Don't miss out on the headlines from Raiders. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Leilua brothers have never stepped onto a professional footy field together before.
Aside from plenty of backyard battles their appearance for Samoa on Friday will be the first time Joey and Luciano have played alongside each other.
They haven’t even squared off on the field with respective injuries robbing them from playing against each other despite Luciano playing his first game for St George Illawarra for 2016. By then Joey was well entrenched as a first grader in Canberra having left the Dragons as a youngster to join the Roosters before a stint in Newcastle.
Live stream the inaugural Downer Rugby League World Cup 9’s Live & On-Demand on KAYO SPORTS. Get your 14 day free trial and start streaming instantly >
“Finally he will be in my team,” Joey said. “Usually in the backyard I’m beating him all the time.
“Four years in a row one of us have been injured so we haven’t played against each other. I have wanted to show him who the top dog is still but he knows. We both know.
“Now we get to play with each other for the team. Mum and Dad are so happy. It’s going to be exciting.”
At 23 Luciano is four years younger than Joey. While he may be the little brother, he certainly isn’t the smallest. Luciano said size always won in the backyard battles.
“The bigger always wins,” Luciano said. “I’m always the one that’s winning.”
MORE NEWS
Benji’s tears for brother’s Kiwi selection
Bennett’s emphatic response to Burgess retirement talk
Joey laughed off Luciano’s suggestions the younger Leilua was the boss on the field because he was “closer to the ball”.
What was no laughing matter for Joey was Canberra’s grand final loss to the Roosters. He also fended off suggestions the premiership decider was his final game as a Raider.
“I’ve seen a lot of news but I haven’t spoken to or heard from my manager,” Leilua said. “No news is good news. I’m still there. Whatever is happening with the salary cap I’m not too sure.
“(The grand final loss) was very disappointing. It was a big learning curve for the young guys in our team.
“We had a lot of new faces we achieved something that was our goal which was to make the top four. We were the only ones who expected us to play in the grand final.”