Luciano Leilua opens up on Wests Tigers move changing his career

There are two secrets to Luciano Leilua’s rise from Dragons bench player to 80-minute leader at the Tigers this season — and one of them is due to wrestling legend Ric Flair.

Luciano Leilua (left) reacts with Moses Mbye of the Tigers after Mbye scored a try during the Round 6 NRL match between the Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, June 20, 2020. (AAP Image/Brendon Thorne) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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Luciano Leilua might bark and howl like a dog in the middle of a training session.

Or he might let rip with a giant fist pump like he’s starting an invisible chainsaw to celebrate a try.

Or he might just let out a great, bellowing “WHOOOOO!” for no reason at all, other than making sure his Tigers teammates get as fired up as possible.

Just be sure of this - Luciano Leilua will gee up the boys at all costs and at all times, by any means necessary.

“The boys love it,” Leilua told The Daily Telegraph.

“They call me Ric Flair.

“I’ve been watching some NFL chants to try and get the boys hyped up. They’re hectic, so I try and send them out to the boys.”

But there’s plenty of bite to Leilua’s bark, and it’s why the 24-year old has quietly - or loudly, if you’re close enough to hear him - become one of the best signings of 2020.

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Leilua has become a fixture on the left edge for the Tigers. AAP Image/Brendon Thorne.

Talent was never a question for the hulking backrower, but he struggled to land a consistent spot at the Dragons, playing just 43 games in four seasons in the NRL.

But since linking up with Michael Maguire at the Tigers, Leilua has blossomed. He’s recording career highs in minutes, average metres per game and tackles per game while retaining the uncommon skill and blockbusting running that got him into the top grade.

Emulating “The Nature Boy” is part of his transformation - it’s something only a personality like Leilua can do, and it’s turned him into an unlikely leader for Maguire’s Tigers.

“I just try and bring whatever energy I have left to keep it rolling,” Leilua said.

“If someone has more energy than you it makes you feel like you don’t have any, it’s sort of like a mind game.

“You have to try and get in their heads, make them think you have more than them.

“It brings the whole training session up, it lifts the intensity. I really wanted to come here and bring that leadership. Madge is big on everyone being their own leader.

Strength and conditioning guru Ronnie Palmer was full of praise for Leilua’s commitment to changing his lifestyle in order to fulfil his potential.

Leilua has been nicknamed after legendary WWE wrestler Ric Flair. Whooooooooooooooooo!

Leilua wasn’t forced to clean up his diet or train harder, he did it because he wanted to and that, Palmer explains, makes all the difference.

“During the break he really became a self-motivator,” Palmer said.

“He’s really worked hard on his diet and his training, and he’s gotten stronger, quicker and more agile, and his headspace is a whole lot better than it’s been.

“He’s a more superior athlete than he has been in the past, and there’s more to come, I think.

“Even when he wasn’t with us I always admired how silky he was with his skills, he’s a very, very talented footballer.

“But what probably let him down in the past was that lack of fitness, doing repeat efforts. But he’s now doing that a lot more.

Leilua is one of the low key buys of the season. AAP Image/Craig Golding.

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“He’s able to do repeat efforts, he’s explosive and he’s tough.”

For Leilua, it was Maguire’s belief in him that helped the Samoan international find his own confidence.

This kind of play was probably always somewhere within Leilua - and so was the barking, and the chainsaw and the Ric Flair impressions - but it took Maguire to unlock it.

“Coming here with Madge and our strength and conditioning, it changed me,” Leilua said.

“It changed my mindsight, and helped me get my body right to play the full 80. I trained my butt off during iso to stay ready.

“Madge has been great for me because he believes in me, and he knows I can do it, so it gives me the confidence to go out there and play the 80.”