Joseph Leilua released by the Knights

McManus said something along the same lines this year when he was asked if his spot was in jeopardy, its confidence I like it guys. I see it both ways, everyone has to remember this is a JOB now, if your boss says he isn't going to let you play or doesn't want you at work, you look for another job, we need to take passion and loyalty out of it because it doesn't exist anymore...

Its not like he wanted to leave he was told his spot was in jeopardy, and took it the way he did. Some people will play harder train harder or some people just look elsewhere... He doesnt even have a club yet, but in saying that besides the odd errors (which every player is making) he is still trying to score tries

Let him go I agree there, but I'm not sore about it...
 
The guy has lost any respect I had left for him.

If he is in our team with guys like Mamo and Chanel being held back after June 30 I'm going to be extremely annoyed.
 
Matty23 said:
The guy has lost any respect I had left for him.

If he is in our team with guys like Mamo and Chanel being held back after June 30 I'm going to be extremely annoyed.
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What about the Coach that continues to select him ahead of those mentioned ? We say see ya to BJ and is bad attitude but left with the coach that obviously condones same.
 
It's pretty baffling that he's still in there.

Stone talked a good game pre-season about players having to step up and earn their spots, but he hasn't walked the walk during the season.
 
To be fair to him Houston is 1000x worse and gets picked without question and isn't "pubicly outed" as some may say by the coach/media. If Bennett was still here I have no doubt he would have had a word to him about his training/attitude/shape so I don't see why he uses that as an excuse.
I think he may have misunderstood the situation because I don't think the Knights had any plans to say "we dont want him" I believe Stoney when he says that. A little show in faith in him wouldn't have hurt but considering his history...
 
He really didn't say much that wasn't pretty obvious anyway.

My beef with him is that he showed what he can do when he actually cares when he played for Samoa and the games he had against England and NZ were miles better than anything he has ever shown for us.

If he trained as hard and put in as much effort as someone like Mamo, he would probably be the best player in the game. In that 4 nations he looked like the best player in the tournament for 2 of his 3 games, and the other game he only looked bad because he tried too hard to do everything.

I'm starting to wonder if he will actually get a new contract. It's been a long time now since he put himself on the market, and any coach must be wondering if he will actually put in an effort. There is no doubt he has the gifts to be anything he wants to be.
 
the guy is even lazy warming up we watch pretty close and he walks between the groups throwing ball in the air without actually doing anything should have been released already
 
Drop him and give be our juniors a run, our season is already over so what do we have to lose? Besides he is also number 1 for errors made this season, correct me if I'm wrong.
 
BJ won't ever be one of the best players in the game.
I don't buy into the whole if they trained harder, had better attitude etc.
He's just another Dave Taylor, Konrad Hurrell, Carl Webb etc.
They look like world beaters every now and then and that's because they are overweight which helps them bust through tackles pretty easily.
Ask them to shred their weight, get fit and play consistent football for 80mins every week and continue busting through tackles...It's not going to happen.
If I was the coach I would play these sort players off the bench.
Chuck them on for 15mins every game.
 
Left Foot said:
BJ won't ever be one of the best players in the game.
I don't buy into the whole if they trained harder, had better attitude etc.
He's just another Dave Taylor, Konrad Hurrell, Carl Webb etc.
They look like world beaters every now and then and that's because they are overweight which helps them bust through tackles pretty easily.
Ask them to shred their weight, get fit and play consistent football for 80mins every week and continue busting through tackles...It's not going to happen.
If I was the coach I would play these sort players off the bench.
Chuck them on for 15mins every game.
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Owen Craigie!
 
Lefty said:
I hope so, the sooner the better.

Chanel deserves another crack at first grade.
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To be honest with out sounding like a knob but I think bj isn't that intelligent watching him play and listening to him speak it would be easy for him to miss interpirate things
 
Canberra Raiders still hopeful of signing Joey Leilua before June 30 deadline

June 11, 2015 - 8:00PM

He was part of the enemy just last week, but the Canberra Raiders are doing everything possible to convince the Newcastle Knights to release centre Joey Leilua as a mid-season signing before the June 30 deadline.

It is understood the Raiders expect to know by the weekend whether they are a realistic chance or not of acquiring the Samoan international for the rest of the season.

Leilua has triggered a get-out clause in his Knights contract allowing him to head elsewhere next season, and the Raiders have long been the hot favourites to snare the 23-year-old on a three year deal from 2016.

The Knights have made it clear publicly they don't plan on letting Leilua go anywhere until then, but Canberra is still hopeful of changing their mind.

"The communciation is between [Raiders boss] Don Furner and [Knights counterpart] Matt Gidley, both CEOs get on very well and they're discussing the situation at hand," Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said.

"I'm not sure where the situation's at, but what excites me is he wants to be a Canberra Raider."

Speaking for the first time since confirming he wants out of the Knights, Leilua told The Newcastle Herald on Thursday he decided to leave the club when told by coach Rick Stone his first grade spot was under threat before round one.

He added it was "most likely" he would sign with Canberra and the fact his cousin, Sia Soliola, plays there is a big ace up the Raiders' sleeve.

Leilua scored a try in Newcastle's 44-22 loss to Canberra at Hunter Stadium last week, and said he likes what he sees from the suprise packet Raiders.

"They've got a young side. Good team bonding, I think," he said.

"There's no big names in there, but they seem to be playing well together."

If the opportunity arose for a mid-season switch, Leilua told The Herald he had already informed Knights officials he would be interested.

"It's not my decision," he said.

"I've already put in an application to leave. That could be before June 30, or definitely at the end of the year.

"I'm not too sure about June 30. We'll see how we go, what the club wants from me.

"If they don't really want me, I should just leave."

Stuart has long rated Leilua as a player, and selected him as 18th man when he was NSW Blues coach in 2012.

He would add much-needed depth in the outside backs, particularly at right centre which has been an issue for the Raiders since Blake Ferguson's sacking, and Jack Wighton's shift to fullback this season.

Canberra has enjoyed success in the past with mid-season transfers.

Winger Sandor Earl scored 17 tries in 29 games for the Raiders when he switched from Penrith in 2012, before his career came to a halt after being caught in ASADA's crosshairs.

If Leilua is released before June 30 it would add spice to Canberra's home clash with Newcastle on Friday, July 10.

Canberra has been arguably the shrewdest recruiters in the NRL this year, with Josh Hodgson, Sisa Waqa, Soliola, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Williams and Blake Austin all in strong form.


http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-before-june-30-deadline-20150611-ghle1l.html
 
Why should we be the nice guys?

Either give us a player in return as compensation (one of Cornish, Williams or Shillo would be good) and if not, make him suffer for the rest of the year in NSW Cup.
 
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God I hope we're smart about this & ask for a player in return. We're probably too dumb to even consider that.
 
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